


Skeleton x Skeleton

by PumpkinFlash, Tea_Cup (PumpkinFlash)



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Swapfell (Undertale), F/M, Fluff, HorrorTale, Mystical Creatures, Sensitive bones, Skeletons, Smut, Underfell, dusttale, underswap - Freeform, undertale - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 06:07:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 49,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15966272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PumpkinFlash/pseuds/PumpkinFlash, https://archiveofourown.org/users/PumpkinFlash/pseuds/Tea_Cup
Summary: You're a mystic skeleton who was heading to Ebott City for some monster food, when you got caught in a trap. You end up getting saved by a ghost skeleton and a weird skeleton who invite you to spend the night at their house. Life was already pretty interesting but who new meeting random skeletons in the wood could make your life way more interesting and exciting. Not that you're complaining.





	1. Traps and Puzzles

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This is my first fan-fic, so let me know if you see any errors. You/the Reader are a mystic skeleton so you can't talk. instead you communicate via telekinesis or sign language. 'This is you using telekinesis or you just thinking' while "this (with bold text) is you using sign language". I hope that make sense. Other than that please enjoy the story! :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're a mystic skeleton who was heading to Ebott City for some monster food, when you got caught in a trap. You end up getting saved by a ghost skeleton and a weird skeleton who invites you to spend the night at their house. life was already pretty interesting but who knew meeting random skeletons in the wood could make your life way more interesting and exciting. Not that you're complaining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This is my first fan-fic, so let me know if you see any errors. You/the Reader are a mystic skeleton so you can't talk. instead you communicate via telepathy or sign language. 'This is you using telepathy or you just thinking' while "this (with bold text) is you using sign language". I hope that make sense. Other than that please enjoy the story! :)

It’s early in the night as you wonder the forest near Mt. Ebott. Leaves crunching under your bony feet, the songs from insects and owls hooting fill the air around you. The sky is clear as the sun continues to set, and darkness begins to take over. You enjoy peaceful moments like these, just you and nature. Where no one is trying to kill you or protect you, and when humans sleep. Of course, not all humans sleep at night, but there’s always less humans out at night. Walking you notice something reflective poking out from behind a tree. Cautiously, you creep towards the tree to get a better view. Approaching the reflective object there’s a lot of concealed metal in the area. In the distance you hear a snap followed by an ear-piercing scream.

Freezing in place, you listen for any indication of danger. Griping the strap of your bag close to your chest, the sound of the night continues as usual. The sound of scurrying feet that belong from some small rodent. Relaxing a little you decide to observe the area a bit closer. After a few minutes of looking you realizes the metal bits are traps. Various traps and tripwires were hidden and spread throughout the area. That shriek you heard must have been a creature who got caught in trap further up ahead.

‘Well now what do I do? I need to go to Ebott City, they’re one of the few places that sell monster food. I could try and walk around the traps but there appears to be a lot of them, who knows how far I’ll have to walk before it’s safe to head for the city. Then again I could stick to the short path and carefully navigate through them.’ Humming in thought, you continue to consider your options.

Looking up, stars are starting to dot the night time sky. It won’t be long before you are covered in darkness. Skeletons are nocturnal meaning you sleep during the day and work at night. Since it is summer the time, you’re awake and active has decreased. You don’t want to take too much time on this little fetch quest, so it’s better to use our time wisely. But there are advantages to traveling at night, less humans are outside and it’s easier to hide. If they do see you, as long as you quickly disappear most of them think their eyes were playing tricks on them.

Stretching your arms over head, you decide the best option is to continue forward. Keeping your sockets peeled (not like you have a choice) you navigate the trap infested forest. Avoiding beer traps, barbed wires, and tripwires. The further in you go the more advance, technical, and complicated the traps become. It seems to be a mixture of traps and puzzles scattered about and some even have magic infused into them.

‘I wonder who made these and why? Did humans make them to protect the city from monsters or did monsters create these to protect them humans? Heck, maybe it isn’t even one of them! Maybe a mystic made them for protection…no…if it was a mystic, they would’ve just set up a barrier.’ You are startled out of your thought as an owl silently swoops down in front of you picking up a rat and flying off into the night sky. Completely caught off guard you lose your balance and step backwards, activating a trap.

Before you can comprehend what is happening, you are caught in a net dangling from a tree. It spins slowly, ‘Great. Just, great.’ You try wiggling, but the net is kept firmly in place. Releasing an aggravated huff, you turn to look for your bag. ‘Guess I’ll have to use magic to get out this. Stupid cool owl and their silent attacks of the night.’ Looking down you see that your bag is directly…

Below you…

On the ground…

Out of reach…

…

‘Great.’

‘Now what? I guess, I could try separating but these holes are too small. Only the really tiny bones will make it through, which isn’t very helpful.’ You try shifting, wiggling, and pulling on the net but nothing works. Staring angrily into the forest the net gently rocks back and forth. You’re losing a lot of night cover over these stupid traps and you can’t even yell for help because you’re a skeleton! And skeletons can’t talk!

‘Oh there!’ In the distance there’s a dimly lit floating object. You’re not sure what it is but maybe it can use telepathy! Anything is better than just sitting here.

‘Hey! Heeeey! You dimly lit floating thing over there! Can you hear me!?’ Yelling as mentally loud as you can, hoping they might be able to hear you. If not, you’ll stare at them with your eye sockets and hope they might feel your stare on their back. Luckily for you the glow ball either heard you or felt you staring as they slowly float towards you. Now that they are close, you can make out some details on them.

The ball of light coming into focus appears to be a skeleton ghost! He’s a floating head with a tattered red scarf and matching floating gloves. His eye sockets contain bright red eye lights that are currently staring into your own empty sockets. Huh, I didn’t think a skeleton ghost would look like that, but then again, I didn’t even know skeleton ghosts excited until now.

“D…did you…call for me?” The ghost asks.

‘Yes! Can you hear me Skele Ghost?’

He slowly nods his head or at least you think he does. He could just be bobbing up and down. “Who…are…you?”

‘I’m Y/N, I was on my way to Ebott City when I kinda got stuck in this trap here. Who are you?’ You do want to ask him to free you, but it’d be rude not to ask for his name first.

“…P-papyrus…”

‘That’s a nice name’, you say with a smile (or you would if you could smile). ‘Do you think you can help me outta her, Papyrus.’

He nods or bobs again before responding. “I…c-can…get help. Be…back soon.”

‘Okay I’ll just be _hanging_ around then’. He turns around to glare at you before continuing to float off into the distance.

Deciding to pass the time by trying to find constellations in the night sky, is proven difficult when most of your view is blocked by the tree branches. Starting to zone out, you feel a sudden spike in magical energy and Ghosty is back! Along with a…skeleton…wearing clothes?

 

What?

 

The skeleton standing next to Papyrus is wearing a blue jacket with a grey hood covering his head. His jacket is open to revile a grey sweater, paired with some black basketball shorts with white strips down the side. His feet are covered with grey socks and pale pink slippers. You’re no fashion expert but your pretty sure it’s weird to be wearing sock and slippers outside in the forest. His eyes are lidded (wait, what?) barely revealing that his right eye contains a red eye light while his left has a blue eye light surrounded by a red ring. His face seems weirdly malleable if that curious, smug, amused, expression is anything to go off of.

“so ya just gonna stare at me or what?”

Gasping softly (not that they can hear it) ‘Oh, right. Sorry. Um can you please get me down from here?’

… He doesn’t respond and seems to be getting mildly annoyed.

“…I don’t…think he c-can hear…you.”

You turn to look at Papyrus, just barely catching the other skeletons surprised expression as you redirect your attention. ‘What? He doesn’t have telepathy?’

“…No… not that…I’m aware of.”

‘Weird.’ You turn your attention back to the mildly surprised skeleton and begin using sign language “ **Sorry, I thought you knew how to use telepathy. I’m Y/N and I was wondering if you could get me outta this net.** ”

“you. you can see him?” he asks, pointing at Papyrus in shock.

“ **Of course. Why wouldn’t I?** ” You ask with a tilt of your head.

“nothing never mind.” He waves his hand as a sharpen bone with a blue glow surrounding it, cuts through the top of the net. You end up landing on your tail bone next to your bag with a silent yelp.

“heh sorry ‘bout that.”

‘Ow’ Papyrus floats over to your side.

“Are…you okay?”

“ **No worries, just feeling a little down.** ” Papyrus give you a less than amused look while the other one seems to be snickering under his breath. Getting up you hoist your bag onto your shoulder, so it crosses your body rather than hanging off one shoulder. “ **Well thanks for helping me, ah…sorry what was your name?** ”

“names sans.”

“ **Nice to meet you Sans! Thanks again for helping me out, maybe I’ll see ya guys again.** ”

Turning to leave, you continue on your way to Ebott City, until Papyrus flies in front of your face yelling “…Wait!” effectively halting your movements monetarily.

‘Uh what’s up’ you ask highly confused as to why they are stopping you.

“Y-you…should come and…rest at our…house.”

‘What!?’

“what?”

“Th-there…are traps…everywhere. It’s…too dan-gerous.”

“ **Yeah but I can’t possibly impose on you.** ”

He shakes his head furiously “I…insist.”

You’re about to argue again when you hear a sign behind you. Sans comes up to stand beside you.

“might as well join us for the night, there’s no changing his mind when he gets like this.”

You hum in thought before asking, “ **Do you want me to spend the night?** ”

He looks shocked for a moment before his expression shift to a mischievous smirk. “sure. why not?”

You still aren’t sure, but you have to admit you are curious about these weird skeletons and why they are wearing clothes? Also, the reason behind these traps, that’s important too.

Silently sighing, “ **Okay I guess I can spend the night but I’m nocturnal, so I won’t be going to bed anytime soon. Is that cool?** ”

“heh yup. just means there’s more time ta talk.” He says as he turns on his heels and walks away at a slow pace. You follow noticing that he’s still leading you in the direction of Ebott City. At least they don’t live in the opposite direction of the city.

“…Are you okay?” Papyrus ask slowly floating beside you.

‘Yeah, I’m fine. This is a bit of a setback, but I’m interested in getting to know you guys. I’ve never met a skeleton like you two before.’

“Neither…have we. We…only know our…cousins…but we ha-haven’t met one…like you before.”

‘Really? That’s weird.’

“whatcha talking ‘bout?”

You jump slightly not expecting him to suddenly appear beside you. “ **Skeletons. Sorry, couldn’t exactly sign when your back was turned to me.** ”

“hmmm”, he hums in thought as he continues to walk in front of you. You and Papyrus follow suit.

Papyrus began to tell you a bit about himself, like how most people can’t see or hear him. You being the first person to be able to see him beside his brother. He began sharing stories about what he used to do when he was alive. Apparently, Papyrus used to be a living skeleton until he died, then he turned into a ghost. Instead of naturally being born as a ghost. You didn’t think anything other than a human could do that. Weird.

The three of you arrive at a wooden run-down, two-story house. Some of the tiles on the roof are either missing or are sticking out at awkward angels. The painting is chipped and faded in some areas, and it has an overall weathered look to it. Nice and spooky just the way it should be.

“welp, here we are. hope you’re ready to meet some new skeletons.”

Smiling with a slight chuckle (not that anyone can see or tell) you respond, “ **Yup. I was _bone_ ready.** ” You hear Papyrus groan to your right as Sans slowly opens the door.

“heh. i think you’ll fit in just fine, kid.”

‘Wait. Did he say new skeletons?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	2. Where Are Your Clothes!?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You wouldn't think there would be significant culture differences between skeletons, but apparently there are. And this is going to be awkward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy the chapter! :)

Sans opens the door and walks inside, “hey ‘m back.” He’s barely inside the house before a tall figure dashes out of the kitchen and stands in front of him.

“DUST! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, YOU LAZYBONES!? YOU MISSED DINNER, AND ONE CERTAINLY WOULD NOT WANT TO MISS A MEAL FROM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

“heh sorry i was just _skulling_ around.” You chuckle silently to yourself bones rattling a little, but the sound was blocked by the loud groan from the Tall Papyrus.

“THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR YOUR TERRIBLE PUNS! YOU KNOW YOU AREN’T ALLOWED OUTSIDE BY YOURSELF, THIS LATE AT NIGHT.”

Dust releases an agitated sigh “’m not a babybones Jupiter. i can take care of myself.”

Papyrus or Jupiter pauses in his scolding, he shifts nervously on his feet wringing his hands together in a nervous fashion. “I-I KNOW. B-BUT THE OTHERS DON’T LIKE IT WHEN WE LEAVE ON OUR OWN.” He says while looking at his feet. His expression is a mixture of hurt and frustration.

Others? You decide not to think to deeply about it as you pop out from behind Sans’ shoulder and wave hello to the new skeleton. Papyrus or Jupiter is really tall probably around 6’8 to 7 feet, not sure. He has a red scarf with matching red gloves and boots. His shirt appears to be white armor paired with blue short shorts. His teeth are crooked and uneven, and his eye sockets are small and sunken in. Staring at his teeth make you feel a dull pain in your own. He looks at you with a bright smile, moving around Sans to pose dramatically as he tries to introduce himself.

“OH, HELLO TINY SKELETON! I AM THE GRE-”, he cuts himself off as he stares at you mouth agape. “MY GOODNESS!”, he covers his eyes with his hand as he quickly turns away from you. “Y-YOUR NAKED! WHERE ARE YOUR CLOTHES!?” He asked sounding rather frantic.

Confused, you look at Sans while tilting your head ever so slightly. You can’t exactly sign to Jupiter when he isn’t looking at you and you don’t think he has telepathy either.

Sans stares at you for a moment before giving a nonchalant shrug. “don’t know. she didn’t have any when i found her.”

“THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! WE MUST FIND HER SOME APPROPRIATE CLOTHES IMMEDIATELY! DUST! IT IS VERY RUDE TO STARE AT SOMEONE WHO IS UNCLOTHED.” He yells in a very frantic fashion, while trying to look at Sans but not you.

“hey, what’s with all the noise?” Another skeleton appears from the stair case, he’s dressed similarly to Sans. He’s wearing a thick blue jacket with white fur lining his hood. Underneath his jacket is a simple white t-shirt that’s paired with black basketball shorts with white strips down the side. He’s wearing white socks with light blue sneakers. His skull looks like it’s seen better days. His left socket is almost completely made up of a large red eye light while his right socket is completely devoid of any light. Looking a little higher you can see an uncomfortably large hole on his skull just above his left eye.

You try not to stare at the hole on his head afraid of getting sympathy pain like when you looked at Jupiter’s teeth, but you still smiled and waved at him regardless. He just stood there looking at you, like he was frozen. ‘Was he stunned speechless because he’s wearing similar clothes to Sans? I think people who wear clothes don’t like it when others wear the same clothes as them.’

“SANS! SHIELD YOUR EYES. WE MUST GET SOME CLOTHES FOR HER THIS INSTANCE!” He yells as he runs up the stairs dragging the frozen skeleton, who was still looking at you, with him. but His red eye light was gone.

‘Rude!’ you say as you put your hands on your hips, as Ghost Paps tilts his head in confusion.

“so, ah…why aren’t cha wearing clothes?” asks Dust.

You stare at him blankly for a mount before realizing he’s serious. “ **Skeletons don’t wear clothes** ”, you state matter of factly.

Ghost Paps tilts his head once again while Dust returns the equally blank stare, “…i’m wearing clothes.”

“ **Yeah, and it’s weird.** ”

They look at you like you’ve grown a second head, which you don’t understand because you’re perfectly normal…well technically you’re weird by skeleton standards but that has nothing to do with you not wearing clothes.

Jupiter comes storming back down with the other Sans and an arm full of clothes, which he shoves in your face without looking at you. “HERE YOU GO TINY SKELETON. PLEASE PUT THESE ON. I EVEN CHECKED TO MAKE SURE THEY WERE CLEAN FOR YOU.”

You accept the clothes from him as he was telling you where to go to get dress. Instead of moving to get dress you promptly drop the clothes at your feet and stare up at him with defiance. The room is silent as everybody stares at the small pile of clothes on the floor. Dust’s laughter breaks through the silence as he brings his hand up to cover his mouth, in an attempt to restrain his laughter. The other Sans is looking away with a…slight blue dust on his cheek bones?

“W-WHAT’S WRONG TINY SKELETON? DO THE CLOTHES NOT SUITE YOUR TASTE?” He asks still not looking at you.

“ **Skeletons don’t wear clothes!** ” he isn’t looking at you, so he doesn’t see you signing. “ **Dust can you please help me here.** ”

He starts to bring in his mirth, finally calm enough to speak clearly. “kid said she doesn’t want to wear any clothes.” He looks highly amused, maybe he never wanted to wear clothes either and is happy to have someone on his side.

“what?” Sans looks at you before quickly looking away again.

“B-BUT THAT’S INCIDENT! YOU MUST WEAR CLOTHES!” He states as he frantically picks the clothes off the floor and tosses them into your arms once again.

You’re about to throw the clothes back on the ground when Ghost Paps float in front of you. “…please…wear the clothes.”

‘What! Why? Why can’t they get natural!? Skeletons don’t even wear clothes!’

“but…we do.”

You’re silent as the two of you watch each other. Crossing your arms around the clothes while pouting, you consider what he said. You are in their house and they do seem to find clothes important, although you don’t know why, and it’ll be hard to have a proper conversation with them if they can’t even look at you. Looking around, only Dust and Ghost Paps are looking at you, the other are still looking away. Sans is nervously rocking back and forth on the heels of his feet as he…sweats navy-blue liquid? Jupiter is still looking at the ceiling while fidgeting with his fingers and occasionally shifting his weight on his feet.

With a heavy sigh you give into the weird skeletons and decide to wear the clothes. Taking off your bag you gently place it on the floor for a moment as you get dressed. You place the shorts on your bag as you put on the simple light blue t-shirt. Once the shirt is, uncomfortably, in place you move to put the shorts on. Once you are properly wearing the clothes you grab your bag again and let in hang from your right shoulder. No point in leaving the room to get dressed when the two who are uncomfortable aren’t even looking at you and the other two don’t seem to care. Turning toward Dust to sign and notice that he has a faint dusting of purple on his cheek bones.

“ **Hey, can you tell them I’m dressed now?** ”

“what am i, your translator?” he asks with a slightly smug expression.

“ **Yup! At least until they can look at me.** ” You say with a teasing smile.

“heh, guys she dressed so you can look now.” They hesitate a bit before looking at you but when they do they look very relived.

You pause not wanting to apologize but feeling like you should anyway “ **I’m sorry for making you guys uncomfortable.** ” Looking down at your feet as you continue to pout. There really was no need to apologize.

“W-WORRY NOT TINY SKELETON. ALTHOUGH I DO NOT KNOW WHY YOU DON’T WANT TO WEAR CLOTHES, I AM HAPPY THAT YOU DECIDED TO WEAR THEM.”

It was then that you realized, they probably aren’t weird but different. The eye lights, their bone structures, they can talk yet don’t have telepathy, and the sheer fact that they wear clothes and like it. They aren’t the typical mystic skeletons you know, they’re different.

Monsters!

They’re monsters! Is there even a skeleton monster class? Not much is known on monsters, since monsters keep their info on the down-low.

Gently rocking on the heels of your feet you nervously ask, “ **Sooo um how about we start over. My name is Y/N, what’s yours?** ”

Jupiter’s face lights up as he poses dramatically, hands on his hips as he puffs his chest out with pride. “I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! AND THIS IS MY LAZY BROTHER SANS.”

“hey”, Sans says with a lazy wave as he walks to his brother’s side with his hands in his jacket pockets.

“ **So, there are two Sanses living here. What are the odds?** ” You giggle at the unlikely odds of two sets of monster skeletons with the same name living together.

He huffs in displease before speaking again, “you’d be surprised.”

“BROTHER!” Papyrus elbows Sans in the arm before looking back at you. “I’M SORRY TINY SKELETON, THIS MUST BE VERY CONFUSING FOR YOU. WE ALL HAVE NICKNAMES TO HELP IDENTIFY US. I’M SURE YOU KNOW FROM OUR PREVIOUS CONVERSATION, BUT I’M REFERRED TO AS JUPITER, HE,” he points to Dust standing beside you “IS DUST, AND MY BROTHER IS KNOWN AS MARS.”

You can see why he’s mars with the big glowing red eye light and find it adorable that the taller sibling is Jupiter. “ **Aw, that’s adorable** ” you exclaim while clasping your hands together in front of your chest. They get that faint dusting on their cheek bones although Jupiter’s is a light orange.

‘Hey, I know you said only Dust and I can see you so does this mean you don’t have a nickname?’ you ask Ghost Pap who is floating between you and Dust. He just shakes his head in response.

‘Well do you want a nickname? Or I can always just refer to Jupiter by his nickname.’ He stares at you with wide eye sockets before speaking in a soft voice, so soft your almost didn’t hear it.

“…Y…You’d…do t-that for me?”

You stare at him confused for a moment before smiling ‘Of course if ya want a nickname that is.’ He nods his head enthusiastically as he awaits with sparkling eye sockets for your nickname.

Thinking a bit as you tap your chin with your finger you come to a decision ‘How about Ember?’

His hands cup his cheek bones as his smiles widens and the sparkles in his sockets intensifies. “YES! T…That is a w-wonderful name, for someone…as great as I!” This is the happiest you’ve seen him since you meet him, which admittedly wasn’t for very long.

Chuckling you glance towards the other three skeletons who are still present. Dust looks at you and Ember with a mixture of wonder and adoration while the other two seem confused as to what’s been going on. Realizing that they can’t see Ember nor do they have telepathy, it must have looked like you and Dust were staring at each other or having a silent conversation.

You make a coughing gesture as you silently cough and bring the attention solely onto you “ **So Dust did ya want to eat first? Papyrus said you missed dinner after all,** ” you ask pointing to what you assume to be the kitchen.

Dust re-focuses on you his smile more relaxed almost warm, as he speaks, “sure, we can move this to the kitchen.”

You follow Dust with Ember, Jupiter, and Mars following close behind. The kitchen is down hall and to the right of the door way, facing across from the kitchen is the living room area. The inside of the kitchen is clean with a simple setup, counters lining two of the four walls with an oven to the far wall and a double sink on the adjacent wall. Above the sink is a window and opposite of it was the refrigerator. In the middle of the kitchen sat a small table that can fit four people. Dust sits down at the table and you take a seat next to him. Removing your bag so that it sits beside your chair. Mars sits across from you, looking between you and Dust with skepticism. Jupiter moves throughout the kitchen as he starts preparing to reheat the left-over food.

“so, why are ya here?” Mars pipes up from across the table, his one eye light boring into you.

“SANS,” he turns around so fast that some of the spaghetti sauce on his spoon splashes on the floor and table. “THAT WAS VERY RUDE! I’M SORRY TINY SKELETON MY BROTHER CAN BE RATHER, UNCOUTH.” He says as he returns to the pot on the stove but turned slightly so he can still see you sign.

“ **No, no, it’s fine. I was on my way to Ebott City when I got caught in a trap, and Dust helped me out.** ” Ember already mentioned that they can’t see him so might as well not bring him up in the conversation yet. “ **He invited me to stay the night, I hope that was okay?** ”

“OF COURSE, TINY SKELETON! WE CAN HAVE A SLEEP OVER!” He places a plate of spaghetti in front of you and Dust. “AND YOU MUST TRY MY FAMOUS SPAGHETTI, IT’S NOT MY SPECIAL FRIENDSHIP SPAGHETTI BUT IT IS JUST AS GOOD.”

The food smells and looks delicious but, “ **I would love to, but…I can’t eat.** ”

“NONSENSE. EVERYONE ONE HAS ROOM FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS’ COOKING!” he poses dramatically with sauced covered spoon still in hand. He looks at you expectantly as he waits for you to take a bite. Mars’ drums his phalanges rhythmically on the table, as he watches you with a calculating stare.

You sigh and try signing again, “ **Jupiter I really can’t eat food** ”, you try to tell him as clearly as possible. You’re a skeleton so it should be obvious that you can’t eat but apparently, they can eat.

“NO NEED TO BE MODEST WE HAVE PLENTY MORE SO FILL FREE TO EAT WITHOUT WORRY.” He says as he sits beside Mars.

Mars narrows his eye sockets at Dust before looking back at you. Dust is resting his head in his hand as he looks at you with a raised bone brow. Sighing you get up from your seat and grab a meatball. You move to stand by the table so that all four of them can look at you. Once all confused eyes are on you, you pop the meatball in your mouth.

The meatball hits your spine, bounces off and hits the back of your lower jar before falling to the floor. It’s silent as everyone watches the meatball roll a few inches away from your feet.

“ **See. It’s not like I don’t want to eat your food, but I physically can’t.** ”

“WH-WHAT!? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!?”

Scratching the back of your head you release a sigh before looking back at them. “ **I think it’s time we had a little chat**.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know if there are any mistakes or where I could improve, because I know it's there. I guess Ghost Paps is going to be Ember from now on because his eye lights remind me of embers or sparks.


	3. Mystical Creature

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You give a lesson on mystical skeletons!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for not updating in a while but my internet provider is being complicated and apparently "can't" restore our internet. Ya see we got hit by the hurricane and apparently so did our internet provider. when we got our power back we had internet for a full week before, without notice they shut our internet off to fix a problem they had on their side. that was Sept 21 it was supposed to be back up by Sept 22. It's Oct. 4 and we still don't have internet and every time we call about we get different reason that contradict each other on why we don't have internet!!!!! So, yeah I'm at the library so I can post this, so the next few chapter will be posted inconsistently instead of regular. Sorry about that and my mini rant.

Everybody is sitting around the kitchen table as they wait for your explanation. Linking your fingers together as you rest your head on top of your hands in a serious thinking pose you start by asking a simple question.

 **“Are you guys monsters?”** They look as if they weren’t expecting that question, before nodding. ‘So that confirms your theory.’

**“Okay well that explains some things then.”**

“what does that mean?” ask Mars from across the table.

**“It means that you’re probably unaware that there are three types of sentient beings in the world.”**

“three types of sentient beings,” Dust repeats raising a bone brow in surprise.

You nod your head as you continue your explanation. **“Yes. Humans, monsters, and mystical creatures, also known as mystics.”** You place your hand on your chest, **“I am a mystic skeleton.”**

The room is silent once again before Jupiter speaks.

“WOWIE SO THAT MEANS THERE’S A WHOLE ANOTHER RACE THAT NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT,” he exclaims in excitement.

“wait mystical creature? you mean like the human’s mythical creatures?” asks Mars with rapid interest as he sits a bit straighter.

 **“Yes, although we prefer the term mystical since we are very much real. I have much that I could tell you but for now I’ll just stick to the basics, so I don’t over whelm you.”** They nod their heads and you continue, **“Mystics can be broken down into groups based on our sub-species. For example, my species is a mystic, but my sub-species is a skeleton. Some other species have different types or classes within their sub-species like fairies. Fairy is the sub-species but underneath that they have types such as nature fairies, animal fairies, tooth fairies, dream fairies, and so on.”**

You can feel the table begin to shake as Jupiter’s bones begin to rattle loudly. Looking in his direction you can see that his eye sockets have expanded and have multiple tiny stars in them. It looks like he’s trying to hold back his excitement until you’re done with your story, so you quickly continue.

**“But we can get into details about those later, as for mystic skeletons, there seems to be some big differences between us and monster skeletons.”**

“like?”

**“Well as you can probably guess just from looking at me, but mystic skeletons don’t have eye lights or a magic field in our eyes.”**

“magic field?”

**“Yes, depending on the lighting in the room, if you look in my eye sockets you can see the back of my skull.”**

“GASP! REALLY?” Papyrus leans over the table and looks you in the eye sockets. His sockets widen even more as he returns to his seat. “SHE’S RIGHT I CAN SEE THE INSIDE OF HER SKULL COMPLETELY. IT’S ACTUALLY QUITE UNNERVING.”

Dust gently grabs your skull and turns your skull slightly so, you are looking him in the eye sockets. “huh you really can see back there,” he says releasing your skull.

**“Yup. Compared to your eye sockets, where no matter the amount of light, I still can’t see the inside of your skulls. Also, our bone structure is very similar to a human skeleton where as yours seems to resemble them but some of your features are rather exaggerated.”**

“you aren’t actually a human skeleton, are you?” Dust asks while snickering, although his expression tells you that he’s only partially joking.

With a slight pout you calmly explain that no, you are not an actual human skeleton, but a naturally born mystic skeleton that just so happens to look like a human’s skeleton.

“SO HUMAN SKELETONS CAN’T COME BACK TO LIFE?”

Well technically no, although they can be used as puppets but **“No after a human dies, they stay dead unless they turn into a ghost or vengeful spirits.”** You didn’t actually mean to sign that last part, although you think that bit of information is common knowledge, it could still be unnerving to some. The room seems to get a bit colder as everyone seems to tense up their expressions turning somber, like they’re remembering something they’d rather forget.

 **“Anyway!”** You sign with a clap of your hands noticing that Dust has yet to eat his food. **“Our bones are made of collagen, calcium, marrow, and other minerals. Our bodies consist of both fused and individual bones which are supported and held together by magic. Humans hold their bones in place with the help of ligaments, tendons, and such. So, we don’t have any of the flesh and organs that one needs to eat or that weird magic field that you guys have. Which means we don’t do most typical bodily functions like; eating, breathing, sweating, or…expelling waste.”** You shudder at the thought of that last notion. Eugh.

“So…y-you really can’t…eat”

“T-THAT’S SO SAD! YOU WILL NEVER GET TO TASTE THE EXCELLENCE OF MY COOKING!” Jupiter exclaims.

 **“Well if it means anything to ya it looks and smells delicious,”** you say as you eye the food in front of you.

“HMM, WELL PRESENTATION IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS HOW THE FOOD TASTE, SO I WILL ACCEPT YOUR COMPLIMENT.”

Your bones begin to rattle gently due to your laughter, that only Ember can hear, as you bring your hand to cover you mouth. You always feel a little self-conscious about laughing in front of others since your face is stoic, and people without telepathy can’t hear it.

After you manage to collect yourself from your laughter you notice that they are staring at you with an indescribable expression, although that colored dust is back. Is that something that’s in the air? Is it on my face too?

‘Um sorry about that I know it’s weird when I laugh’

“NO! No, you have…a very cute laugh.” Ember says from his end of the table between Jupiter and Dust.

‘…thanks, I forgot you could hear it, but for the others it must have looked weird.’

“Absolutely not! You…were very cute.” If it was possible, you were sure that steam would be floating from your skull. You have been complemented before, sure, but not about your laugh.

“hey kid, you alright?” Mars asks looking concerned.

Quickly you bring your hands in front of your chest waving them frantically in an “I’m okay don’t worry about it” motion. ‘Yeah I’m fine, totally fine.’

Mars tilts his head in confusion and Jupiter seems to be more concerned than before.

 **“Oh, right sorry. Forgot you guy don’t have telepathy.”** You sign awkwardly.

“…telepathy?” Mars asks more so to himself than to you, but before you can respond you notice Dust eating out of the corner of your socket.

Almost immorally fast you turn your head to look at the eating skeleton. The spaghetti slips between his teeth with ease as it seems to disappear once inside his mouth. He dips his fork into the spaghetti as he twirls the noodles around the fork, before bringing it up to his mouth. Slowly opening his mouth to revile a swirling black void that lies behind his teeth. As the fork enters his mouth the noodles start to unravel and disappear into the darkness. He closes his mouth around the fork and slides it out as the last few remaining strains of noodles slip past his clenched teeth.

“heh. what’s wrong pal, never seen as skeleton eat before?” Dust asks with an impossible smug grin on his face.

All you can do is shake your head in wonder. You’ve seen other people eat before but never a skeleton.

He slowly brings his sauce covered thumb to his teeth as he maintains eye socket contact with you. In one swift motion the sauce has disappeared from his thumb as if it was instantaneously sucked into his mouth. Even though his mouth was closed! You never knew watching a skeleton eat could be so…fascinating.

“SANS…!”

“DUST!”

The sudden shouting from Papyrus and Ember drew you out of your trance. Realizing how close you are to him you quickly scout away from him. Hands on your cheek bones as your bones rattle nervously at the embarrassing development.

Ember and Jupiter are busy lecturing Dust about proper eating etiquette and telling him that he should be ashamed of his recent behavior, and in front of a guest no less. However, instead of looking remorseful he continues to eat with a satisfied grin.

Mars clears his non-existence throat “so, if you don’t eat how do you get energy?” Happy for a distraction from your current embarrassment you gladly answer his question.

“ **Yes! I know most species and living organisms get their energy and nutrients via eating or absorbing food. Like most living things we gain our energy and nutrients through sleeping.”**

“SLEEPING THAT’S SUCH A LAZY WAY OF GAINING ENERGY?”

 **“I suppose so. We sleep in the ground so-”** you get cut off by the sudden gasps and shocked expression of the others.

“WHAT!? Y-YOU SLEEP IN THE GROUND? T-THAT SEEMS AWFULLY UNCOMFORTABLE.”

Ember nods his head in agreement while Dust and Mars seem too dumbfounded to properly form words.

**“Yes, we sleep in the ground. The ground is full of a lot of minerals and nutrients that are good for the bones. While we sleep our bodies absorb these nutrients replenishing our energy and healing any minor wounds or injuries we may have sustained.”**

There’s a moment of silence as they take in everything that you’ve said. It was a lot and there is still a lot that you can explain on, not just about mystic skeletons but mystics in general but maybe we’ll leave that for another day. Your hands are starting to hurt from signing so much.

**“Alright, alright. I think I covered the basics if you guys have any specific question you want to ask I’ll be happy to answer them for you.”**

Jupiter immediately shoots his hands up and waves it frantically, waiting for you to call on him.

 **“Yes, Papyrus.”** You sign with a silent chuckle.

“WHY DO YOU NOT WANT TO WEAR CLOTHES?” everyone looks at you with intense focus. I guess this is the question that has been plaguing their minds since I got here, although I forgot about it.

 **“Well there isn’t really a rhyme or reason for it, we just don’t wear clothes. Similar to how animals are natural, some of us mystic remain in our natural state as well. I’m sure you have some monsters that prefer to be natural rather than wear clothes?”** You ask, hopeful that they’ll accept this explanation because there really isn’t any other reason for it.

They all seem to think about it for a moment. Dust and Mars nod their heads in agreement as Jupiter speaks. “COME TO THINK OF IT YOU ARE CORRECT, TINY SKELETON. THERE ARE A HANDFUL OF MONSTERS THAT DO PREFER TO BE NAKED,” he explains.

 **“Honestly, I would prefer to remain natural myself, but it won’t kill me to wear clothes either. So, while I’m here I’ll respect the fact that you all wear these clothes and wear them as well.”** I guess this is one of those when in Rome do as the Romans do.

“you don’t have to do that for us you know. it would be rude to have our guest be uncomfortable, right paps?” Dust asks with a knowing smile.

Mars visibly tenses as that strange navy-blue dust covers his cheek bones again. Jupiter sits up straighter as his eyes begin to shift rapidly form side to side as he stutters trying to find the right words.

“W-WELL, Y-YES IT WOULD BE R-RUDE OF US TO HAVE HER BE U-UNCOMFORTABLE B-BUT.” Jupiter continues to stutter, lost at what to say, as you lean over the table and reach out to grab Mars’ face. He flinches at your touch as his eye sockets widen and his eye-lights shrinks. The weird dusting on his face deepens as you rub your thumb over his cheek bone, trying to wipe it off. It won’t come off, but it keeps getting darker in color turning to a very lovely shade of navy-blue. You bring your other hand up to cup his other cheek leaving you in an awkward position as you continue to stroke his cheek bones and a bit of his jaw. His eye sockets begin to lid, and you hear a soft purring sound which catches you off guard.

Before you can ask what, he’s doing Jupiter interrupts by coughing into his fist. Mars instantly disappears from you grasp causing you to hit the table face first. Dust starts laughing from behind you and looking up you can see that Jupiter has that same light orange dust on his cheek bones.

“SORRY TO INTERRUPT YOUR CANOODLING BUT IT IS INAPPROPRIATE TO DISPLAY SUCH BEHAVIOR AT THE DINNER TABLE.”

 **“…Sorry?”** What’s canoodling?

Letting out a heavy sigh “IT’S FINE AS LONG AS YOU UNDERSTAND.” He gets up from the table and takes Dust’s empty plate away and starts washing it in the sink.

Dust is still laughing, hunched over while gripping the edge of the table. Your still confused by the sudden change in mood but you have more important matters to discuss.

‘Hey what’s that weird colored dust that everyone keeps getting?’

“…Colored…dust?”

‘yeah that color stuff that keeps appearing on everyone’s cheek bones. Dust’s is purple, Jupiter’s is a light orange, Mar’s is navy-blue.’

The look of realization crosses his features as he understands what you’re talking about. “Oh, you mean blushing?”

Dust’s laughter starts to die down while Jupiter dries the dishes and puts away the leftover food. It’s quite in the kitchen since no one can hear your conversation, although dust can hear at least half of it.

‘Blushing? You mean that thing people with blood do?’

He nods his head in confirmation before further explaining. “…Yes, monsters blush s-similarly to humans…but instead o-of blood it’s our magic.”

‘So that color on their cheeks is the color of their magic showing through?’

“Correct…”

Bring a hand over your mouth in a shocked surprise ‘Scandalous,’ is all you can say. “

watcha thinkin’ ‘bout kid” Dust ask halfway hidden by the refrigerator door as he pulls out two bottles of…ketchup?

**“Just thinking about you guys, we don’t really know a lot about monsters. And despite being skeletons, you can blush and your faces are quite malleable. You can make all kinds of different facial expressions. I can’t make any facial expressions.”**

Everyone was heading to the living room as you were signing which made things a bit awkward since they had to angle their bodies to still be able to see you. See this is why having telepathy would be so helpful.

…don’t I have something for that?

Mars was sitting on the couch watching TV while everyone entered the living room. While you were lost in your thoughts about the content of your bag, Jupiter was filling Mars in on what you had signed while Dust gave him one of the bottles of ketchup. Soon all four of them looked at you with a mixture of amusement and confusion.

**“What?”**

“YOU CAN’T?”

You shake your head ‘Nope’.

“but, you’re pretty expressive,” says Dust.

 **“I am?”** you ask with a tilt of your head, resting one finger on your chin. You always imagined that you look expressionless or neutral faced, since you can’t smile or frown.

“yeah, you have this aura around you that perfectly matches how you feel.” Mars starts to explain.

“OR A WHAT?”

“no paps. not or a, aura.”

“I KNOW SANS, BUT OR A WHAT?”

“dammit paps do we really have to do this now.” He complains just barely over a whisper.

**“So, I have an aura?”**

“yeah, it’s like the space around you changes shapes and colors to match whatever you’re feeling. It makes you look animated even though your facial features don’t change.” Explains Dust as he continues to study you.

You look at the space around you and wave your arms a bit. Obviously, you don’t see what they do so you shrug your shoulders and head for the couch. Plopping down on the other end away from Mars. Dust sits on the arm rest next to you, leaning his arm against the back of the couch. Ember floats to be between you and Dust except he’s in front of you and closer to the floor. Jupiter takes his seat in the middle of the couch between you and Mars.

However, as Jupiter sits down you notice that Mars is…drinking…ketchup. Utterly confused you leaning forward to stare at him. Watching as he brings the tip of the ketchup bottle to his teeth before slowly parting his jaw to reveal his rather impressive canines and premolars. He gently bit down on the tip of the bottle as he squirted the ketchup into his mouth. Tilting his head back slightly as he looks at you through his lidded good eye, a teasing smirk gracing his features.

Your bones start to rattle a little bit as you quickly look away in favor of watching whatever was on TV. You could hear Mars quietly chuckling to himself from the other end of the couch.

You spend the next couple of hours watching whatever is on TV while trying to resist the urge to stare at Dust and Mars every time they take a sip from their ketchup. You let your hands rest for a bit, perfectly comfortable with sitting in silence while the other 3 talked occasionally. Sometimes you would talk to Ember telepathically, it was surprisingly relaxing and comfortable, like you had been friends with them for years.

You feel a sense of calmness over take you and debate on asking questions of your own, but all the traveling, talking, and explanation certainly has tired you out. Sometime during the night Jupiter excused himself saying “GOOD NIGHT TINY SKELETON, AND I DO HOPE THAT YOU FIND OUR GROUND TO BE QUITE COMFORTABLE” before rushing off to bed.

There wasn’t anything good on TV, you weren’t even sure if the two skeletons were watching TV, but you started to doze off. It was probably around five in the morning when you started to awaken. Noticing that you are now sited between Dust and Mars, with your head resting on Mars’ shoulder. You slowly get up trying not to wake the other two as you find your way to the back door and quietly exit to the back yard.

You lay on your back in the soft grass and enjoy the stars in the sky, knowing that in a couple of hours it’ll be hidden away by the brightness of the sun. Watching the stars twinkle and fade away behind a thin veil of clouds you think back to the night you’ve just had. You were just supposed to get some monster food but now you managed to meet some monster skeletons and maybe…became their friend?

Wait! Should I have told them about mystics? Mystics and monster interactions is still in a grey area after all.

…

Eh, I’m sure it’ll be fine, you think to yourself as you begin to sink into the ground for a good day’s rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and hopefully the next chapter will be out soon! if you have any questions or comments let me know down in the comments below. :)


	4. Blue Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Turns out you don't need monster food after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A good chunk of this was taken from SourApple's horrortale comic. If you haven't read it yet and like the Horror bros then you should check it out. You can read it here https://sour-apple-studios.tumblr.com/
> 
> Please enjoy!

Monsters, the forgotten race, have been freed from the underground for half a year. Humans have forgotten of their existence even some mystic have forgotten about them, but mages will never forget. Now that monsters roam the surface once more mages must face their past actions. A meeting was summoned amongst the strongest and royal mages to discuss how they should handle the case of monster kind. The Mage Kingdom will be on temporary lock down as they try and come to a decision, with the exception of the Necromancer Kingdom. The head of the necromancers will be attending both the mage meeting and the meeting with the Mystic Council. With the necromancer clan involved hopefully these meetings can run quickly and smoothly, and the past will not be repeated.

“Hey, are you ready to go yet? Everyone’s waiting downstairs.”

“Yeah, I just got to finish this letter and send it off.”

“Ah and why don’t you just call or text them wouldn’t that be easier than sending a familiar?”

“Yes, it would be, but I’m also sending her a gift and I don’t know how long this dang meeting is going to take.”

“True, true. Well, I’m going to head down stairs now. Don’t take too long and tell Y/N I said hi!”

“Okay, I got it. Be down in a bit.”

***

You were having a peaceful slumber until a wave of strong magical energy kept occurring above you. The magical energy sent vibrations and static running through the ground. Honestly you were trying to ignore it, it was far too early in the morning to deal with this. As long as they don’t penetrate the ground near you then everything will be fine.

A loud squawk was heard as the top layer of the crust of the Earth was being scratched at. Shortly after another wave of magical energy past along the surface. The focal point of the attacks seems to be where you are… Now might be a good time to move.

“Y/N! Are…you awake!?”

‘Ember? What’s going on?’ You look around to see if you can find Ember. It isn’t long before he floats down next to you. He’s harder to see when he’s phasing through things, it’s like looking at a faded drawing in the dirt.

“Not…sure. Jupiter…was cooking breakfast…when a skeleton hawk came and started attacking the ground. We…were afraid it…was after you. We need to leave!”

‘A skeleton hawk?’

“Yes…”

A powerful wave of magic sweeps across the surface shaking the ground. Even as the ground stilled you could feel the vibration from the magic attack. Popping up right now probably isn’t the best idea, wouldn’t want to accidentally get impaled by magic now would we.

‘Ember I know that hawk and it means no harm. Please tell Dust and the others to stop attacking it.’ Ember studies you for a moment before flying out of the ground presumably toward the others.

Being careful not to leave the ground, you rotate your body so you’re laying on your stomach you start doing the breast stroke within the ground. Keeping a careful eye on the magical energy and vibrations in the area. The attacks decrease slightly but you can still feel some magical energy being tossed around. Once you’re far enough away you carefully pop your head out of the ground, to make sure it’s safe to come out. Not seeing any attacks headed your way, you decide to exit the ground entirely. Usually you would enjoy the feeling of dirt falling off your bones, but you don’t have time for that now.

You try to see where everyone is but it’s too bright outside from the morning sun. Your eye sockets are extremely sensitive to sunlight, making it difficult to see. And of course, you left your bag inside along with your sunglasses. Despite being blinded by the sun you can still feel the magic vibrations in the air and can hear squawking from Pin (the skeleton hawk). Guess Ember didn’t do a good job at calming them down.

“GET DOWN!” Yelled Jupiter before you were tackled to the ground. Disoriented, the world seems to spin as you try to collect yourself. Trying to look around everything looked blown out, nothing but blinding white with bits and pieces of objects coming into view. You vaguely see a concerned Jupiter who is protectively shielding you. In the blinding sky, you see a blurry spot flying in circles above you. “Y/N ARE YOU OKAY!?”

Its bright. Far too bright. Unable to look in Jupiter’s direction you turn over and bury your face in the grass. You need to deescalate the situation and hiding your face in the grass isn’t helping.

‘Pin! Please wait in a tree for me. I know I’m not your master but let me calm them down before one of us gets hurt.’

‘…Okay but please hurry. Miss Nova wanted me to deliver these and return as quick as possible.’

‘Of course, just fly away to a safe distance please.’

‘…As you wish.’

Okay now to cal-

“Y/N!? Y/N are you okay!?” Jupiter is gently shaking your shoulder as you keep your face pressed into the grass. You felt a slight static charge near you before someone kneels besides you, resting their hand on the back of your head.

“h-hey, ya doing okay down there?” Mars asks with concern clear in his voice.

Without lifting your head, you move your hands, so you can sign to them. “ **I’m okay guys, it’s just too bright outside for my eye sockets. Do you mind helping me back inside?** ”

“OF COURSE, Y/N! LEAVE IT TO, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” he yells as he scoops you up in his arms and runs toward the house. Mars follows shortly after, glancing at Dust who was standing off to the side before going inside. Dust stayed outside as he kept a sharp eye light on Pin that is now perched on a tree, occasionally watching him and the door.

Jupiter gently puts you on the couch still looking nervous, while Mars slowly entered the room. “ **Thanks for the help Papyrus. If you don’t mind, could you get my bag from the kitchen?** ” you ask while covering your eye sockets with your palms.

“O-OF COURSE!” He quickly exists the room and returns just as quickly with your bag in hand. Gently placing it onto your lap, you quickly sign a thank you.

As you rummage through your bag looking for sunglasses, Mars comes to stand beside you looking rather tense. “so, want ta explain why you’re under attack.” It wasn’t a question but a demand.

Holding up one finger for the universal sign of “wait a minute” as you put on your sunglasses and wait for your eye socket to adjust to the dark. Once your eye sockets stop hurting you sign to Mars. “ **I wasn’t under attack. That’s my friend’s familiar, Pin, he’s here to deliver me a package.** ”

“heh. your friend has an interesting way of delivering packages.”

“ **Well for mystics using familiars to deliver packages and messages is pretty normal. Although he is being a bit aggressive in his delivery.** ” Normally if she sent me a package her familiar would just wait nearby for me to wake up, not attack the ground to try and force me up. I hope nothing serious has happened on her end.

“pft tell me about it. The damn thing almost ripped up half the yard to get to you.”

“ **Sorry about that. I’ll talk to her about how she handles her familiars later. For now, let me get this package, leaving Dust and Pin alone is making me a bit nervous.** ” You don’t sense any magical attacks being used outside but you’re still a little worried about them. Slinging your bag over your shoulder you get up from the couch only to be stopped by a hand tightly gripping your forearm.

Jupiter has a firm grasp on your forearm, while looking rather tense and nervous. You pat his hand before gently removing it from your arm. Hoping to give him a comforting smile (or aura) you link your fingers together with his as you hold his hand, hoping he’ll calm down a bit. He gets that light orange dus-blush on his cheekbones. Closing his eyes sockets (it’s so weird that they have bone lids? Maybe one of them will let you touch it later, when things have calmed down a bit) and takes a couple of deep breathes (weird does he need to breath, it’s fascinating to see his ribs expand though).

He opens his eye sockets and gives you a resolute nod as his hand tightens around yours ever so slightly. Not sure what he saw in your lack of an expression, but he looks a lot calmer now Mars on the other hand still looks a little tense. But you’ve wasted enough time, it’s time to collect your package!

Thanks to your sunglasses you are ready to face the dreaded death star. Exiting the house with Jupiter and Mars close behind, you notice Dust leaning against the side of the house with his hands stuffed in his jacket pockets, keeping a close eye on Pin.

“so, he’s a friend of yours?” Dust asks with venom seeping into his voice, as he continues to stare at Pin. His smile seems a bit more strained matching his tense posture, despite trying to look laid-back and nonchalant.

One of your hands is still being held hostage by Jupiter’s larger hand. Not that you mind, but you can’t sign like this. You don’t want to let go of Jupiter’s hand, besides his grip increased slightly since you went outside, so you settled for giving him a thumbs up. He gives you a slightly confused look before glancing down at your hand that’s connected with Jupiter’s. His expression shifting to an unreadable one.

‘Miss Y/N is it safe to conduct our business now? I’m afraid I must leave posthaste.’ Pin says grabbing your attention once again.

‘Oh, right sorry for the delay. Just land on the ground in front of me, I’ll remove the package from you, and then you’ll be on your way.’

‘Yes ma’am.’

As soon as Pin moves his skeletal wings to prepare for his flight all three skeletons visibly tense up and you can feel magic flowing dangerously in the air like an electric charge. Jupiter moves so that he’s standing between you and Pin. He lands a few feet in front of you with his back facing you. Gently rubbing Jupiter’s arm, you pry your hand away and make your way towards Pin. Kneeling you carefully remove an envelop from Pin’s tiny bird bag. Once the envelop is removed Pin turns to face you as he gives a brief bow before flying off into the sky.

‘Sorry for the hold up and all the trouble we caused you!’ you yell through your telepathy as you wave good bye. He doesn’t respond but you hope he heard you at the very least.

“so, it really was here to deliver a package.” Dust says more to himself than to you, as the three skeletons approach you.

“ **Yeah I’m sorry about that. If I knew she was going to send me a familiar, then I would’ve warned you guys beforehand.** ” Taking this moment to look around the yard, the fight really did do a number on the yard. The grass where you slept was turn up revealing the fresh layer of dirt underneath, there were sharpened bones sticking in the ground and even in the side of the house. From their magic signature you can tell that some are from Pin. Mixed in with Pin’s bone attacks are also colored bones of blue and orange scattered around the ground and in the trees. Those must be from your new skele-friends although you haven’t been around them to clearly make out their magical signature yet. “ **But thanks for trying to protect me and I’ll make sure she pays for the damages to your yard and house.** ” You say with a sheepish smile.

“N-NONSENSE THIS IT IS THE LEAST I CAN DO TO PROTECT MY NEW FRIEND!” Jupiter reassures you as he poses heroically, scarf flapping in the gently breeze.

“but if she wants to pay for it she can.” Mars says looking around the yard with a critical eye.

“MARS!?”

“what?”

You can’t help but laugh at their antics, covering you mouth with one hand as your shoulders shake and bones rattle gently. Mars and Jupiter stop their arguing too distracted with your laughing form, not that you noticed since you weren’t looking at them.

Dust clears his throat to get your attention “so what did you get?” he asks. Curiosity getting the better of him as he moves stand behind you, so he can peer over your shoulder.

“ **Oh, right!** ” you open the letter carefully, mildly concerned about the three nosy skeleton monsters trying to see your letter. Hopefully this isn’t something that’s supposed to be kept a secret.

The letter reads:

Heya Y/N!

Sorry that this is a bit last minute, buuuuuuuuut I don’t need that monster food anymore.

…Or at least not for now >_>

AAAAAAAANYWAY! I have to attend a meeting with the rest of my family and I don’t know how long this stupid thing is going to take. So, I might not be able to get in touch with you for a while. And sorry about Pin, I kinda figured you might still be asleep but I reaaaally needed that letter delivered to you quickly! So, I told him to do whatever was necessary to get the letter to you quickly. Also, before you ask no I couldn’t just call or text you this. How else was I going to give you your present! :3

Look in the envelope! There should be a necklace! Did you find it yet!? Isn’t it cool? It’s a charm necklace! It helps with finding mystical objects/things that contains magic; magic plants, magic elementals, magic artifacts, magical spell books, and magical dungeons! (Which have magic artifacts and magical spell books!!!) So, I hope you find it useful and have fun with it!

Love you -3- Nova!

P.S. Noel said hi!

P.S.S. We should hang out sometime! :)

Laughing to yourself you shake your head fondly at the letter, before folding it up and putting it back in the envelope. She’s forever a goofball, you think with a smile before pulling out the charm necklace she gave you. You hold the necklace in front of your face for all the see. It has a silver chain with a silver crescent moon charm attacked to it. Within the crescent moon was an amber gemstone*. It was yellow with different shades of orange in the center of it.

It looked like a flame burning brightly in a shiny yellow orb. The light from the sun shining through it caused a rainbow to appear around the gem. The rainbow came from the light reflecting off the magic in the gemstone that is barely visible to the eye socket. Needless to say, it was beautiful.

“Wowie” Jupiter say breathlessly.

“beautiful” Mars added.

“what…is that?” Dust asks.

“ **It’s a charm necklace** ” you start to explain while putting the necklace on. “ **The gemstone is called Amber. These are really rare, I’m surprised she actually managed to find one.** ” I’m going to need to get her something special as a thank you gift, after she gets out of that meeting.

“WOWIE…SHE MUST…BE A REALLY GOOD FRIEND OF YOURS, TO GIVE YOU SOMETHING THIS RARE AND BEAUTIFUL!”

Smiling (mentally) “ **Yeah! she’s a really good friend of mine.** ” You say while admiring the necklace some more. The mood seems to shift a little as their facial expressions range from dishearten to mildly annoyed.

“ **She’s apparently in a meeting for who knows how long. So, she doesn’t need the monster food anymore.** ” You say in hopes of changing this new sober mood that came from nowhere.

“monster food? why did she need that?”

“ **Hmmm. Well, she didn’t need it she just wanted to try it. It is something that’s relatively new after all.** ” You explain with a shrug.

The look of realization flashed on his face before speaking excitedly. “Y/N DOES THIS MEAN YOU DON’T HAVE TO GO TO THE CITY!?”

You nod your head in agreement.

“T-THEN DOES THAT MEAN, Y-YOU CAN STAY FOR A BIT LONGER?” he asks bashfully.

All eyes are on you as you think about it for a moment. Even though it’s ridiculously early you’re wide awake now and probably won’t be going to sleep anytime soon. At least not without some magical help. But it’s not like you have anywhere you need to be. Let alone a home to return to sooooooo. ‘I guess I could stay a while.’

“…really!?..”

‘Yeah’ “ **I guess I can stay with you guys for a while. That is if you’ll have me.** ” You say as you scratch the back of your skull.

“OF COURSE, IT’S OKAY!!!” He yelled in excitement as he grabs you and spins you around happily. “OH! WELL HAVE SO MUCH FUN WE CAN EVEN HAVE A SLEEP OVER TONIGHT!”

‘Uh this is great and all, but can someone get him to put me down please? This kinda hurts and I’m afraid he’ll split my body in half at this rate.’ You tell Ember. Your arms are pinned to your sides, so you can’t sign to the others.

Ember nods before turning to Dust “Sans…Y/N appears to be in pain. Can you…get Jupiter to r-release her?”

After a quick glance at Ember, Dust captures Jupiter’s attention. “uh, jupiter. is something burning?” He asks while point towards the back door.

“GASP!” He brings one hand up to claps his cheek in surprise. “NOT BREAKFAST!” He quickly lowers you to the ground before speeding off to the kitchen, leaving a dust cloud in his wake.

Looking at the direction Jupiter just ran off to, you chuckle a bit to yourself before turning to the others. “ **Thanks for the help I really owe you one.** ” ‘You to Ember!’

Ember somehow defies the logic of the dead and blushes slightly. Giving you a shy nod while a mischievous smile spreads across Dust’s face and you immediately regret saying that.

“i’ll hold ya to it.”

“come on, let’s go see if there’s any breakfast left” Mars says while walking past you with a pat to your shoulder.

The four of you head inside and the closer you get to the house the stronger the burnt smell is. Honestly you thought Dust was lying about something burning but I guess he was right.

Once inside the kitchen you see Jupiter bustling around the kitchen. Throwing away the burnt food with a pained expression and quickly preparing to make some more pancakes. It looks like he started making some before Pin came. He must have left a pan with pancake batter in it, on the stove when he came to “save” me. R.I.P. pancake, R.I.P.

Soon breakfast is served, and everyone is eating except for you and Ember of course. However, you still enjoy visible presentation and delectable smell of the food. The sweet aroma filling the air and the pancakes look so soft and fluffy. It would definitely make for a great pillow. Struggling not to openly stare at them while they eat you try to look at anything else and keep the conversation going. It doesn’t help that Dust and Mars have decided to drink ketchup with their pancakes. Based on Jupiter’s and Ember’s reaction you can guess that that’s not a normal combination.

Finally, you decide to steer the conversation in the direction of the traps outside. You were curious about them last night but didn’t get a chance to ask about them.

“ **On my way to Ebott City I ran into a lot of traps. Do you know what that was all about?** ” You asked curiously.

Jupiter’s face instantly lights up “THOSE ARE MY PUZZLES!”

“ **Your puzzles? You mean…you created all of them?** ”

“OF COURSE! WHO ELSE COULD CREATE SUCH WONDROUS MASTER PIECES!” He states while posing heroically in his chair. “THEY WERE PRETTY IMPRESSIVE RIGHT?”

“ **Well there certainly were a lot of them, but I can say that net trap I got caught in worked perfectly.** ”

Jupiter pauses in his eating to scan you for injuries (From what he can see of you above the table that is).

“I’M SO SORRY Y/N! I HOPE I DIDN’T HARM YOU WITH MY VERY CLEVER TRAP.”

Mars sits up a little straighter as he peers over at you.

“ **I’m fine, I’m fine. Just curious what all the traps and puzzles are for. Some of them even had magic imbedded into them, right?** ”

Jupiter looks relieved before quickly going back to being excited. “YES! I’M SURPRISED YOU MANAGED TO NOTICE IT THOUGH.”

“ **Well I’m no stranger to traps and puzzles. Although I still make mistakes from time to time** ”

“Do you like p-puzzles.!?” “DO YOU LIKE PUZZLES AS WELL!?” Ember and Jupiter say at the same time.

“ **Mmmm. Yes, but it depends on the type of puzzle I suppose. I prefer cryptic puzzles, but I also like mechanical, word, and trivia puzzles, as long as I know the topic at least. Oh, and riddles if that counts.** ”

Ember and Jupiter are vibrating with excitement. Their eye sockets are wide and filled with sparkles and stars, and their smile is so wide that it threatens to split their face in half. On the other hand, Mars and Dust seem a bit more interested in the conversation. And is it you or does there seem to be a tiny spark of motivation in their eye lights.

“Y/N! WOULD YOU LIKE TO TEST YOUR SKILL WITH SOME OF MY PUZZLES!”

“I’m…sure they’ll…leave you befuddle.”

You can’t help but giggle at Ember’s addition. “ **Sure, I would love to try some of your puzzles.** ”

“Excellent! I MUST CALIBRATE MY PUZZLES!” he quickly puts his dishes in the sink before running out the door. Only to come back shortly after to yell “SANS! YOU MUST CALIBRATE YOUR PUZZLES AS WELL. THEY HAVEN’T BEEN CALIBRATED IN MONTHS!”

“on it paps,” he responds in a lackluster way, while giving a lazy salute.

Jupiter runs out of the house again with an excited Nyeh heh heh.

“ **He sure seems _egg-cited_** ” you say with a slight (silent) chuckle, gaining a laugh from Mars and Dust as well as a groan from Ember.

“heh. you have no idea.”

***

You could hear loud construction noises coming from outside as you waited for Mars and Dust to finish eating. You figured Jupiter would come back for you when he was ready for you to try the puzzles, but you were curious about all the noise outside. You kept hearing the door opening and closing, and Jupiter running around the house rummaging for something, but you never actually saw him. It didn’t help your curiosity, but you didn’t want to ruin the surprise (if it was one) or accidentally cheat by seeing how he sets up the puzzles.

Finally, after it seemed like Jupiter was gone for good Mars and Dust finished eating. Quickly you washed the dishes before following everyone outside. Jupiter wasn’t waiting for you outside but there was a big sign next to the front porch. The sign was shaped like a giant arrow pointing into the woods with the word “follow me” written on it. Attached to the bottom of the sign was a little sticky note that said “SANS, DON’T FORGET TO CALIBRATE YOUR PUZZLE! LOVE, THE GREAT PAPYRUS.” You couldn’t help but giggle at the cute note.

“heh heh. well just keep following the sign kid, i’ll catch up later.” he says as he slowly rounds the corner of the house.

“guess i better leave as well”

Chuckling at the pun you ask “And where are you going?”

“me and ember are gonna check out the traps. see if anything ‘s caught in them.”

“Okay, hope you two have fun than!” you say before following the mark path. Dust gave you a slight wave while Ember wished you luck.

You followed the signs until you reached a clearing with Mars and Jupiter standing on the other side. Mars appears to have fallen asleep while standing up, which is both adorable and impressive. You kind of wish you could go back to sleep. The ground here does look very tempting but before you can put your thought into action Jupiter starts talking.

“AND SO IT BEGINS! Y/N I CHALLENGE YOU TO CROSS THIS SPACE USING THE MAGIC ORB I LEFT FOR YOU.” You look around and notice a swirling orb by your feet, so you bend down and pick it up.

“WE WILL SEE HOW CLEVER YOU REALLY ARE! ISN’T THAT RIGHT MARS?”

“zzzzz”

“OF COURSE, EACH PUZZLE COMES WITH A SPECIAL RULE!!! AND THAT IS…UM UHHHH EERRRMMMM… WHAT WAS THE RULE AGAIN BROTHER?”

“five puzzles. three freebies. if you’re stumped just flash the number of freebies you got left.” He says as he holds up three fingers “me or my bro will help ya out.”

“THREE!!?? THAT SEEMS MUCH TOO HIGH!”

“we had to adjust it, in account of no one reaching the final puzzle.”

“AND WHERE AM I SUPPOSED TO FIND 3 FRISEBEES MARS!!? I SWEAR YOU ENJOY JUST GIVING ME WORK!!!”

“no, paps. you make me say this every time. Free-bees. Clues."

“WHAT USE WILL GLUE DO??”

“no. clues.”

“NO CLUES? BUT I THOUGHT WE AGREED IT WAS SUITABLE TO PROVIDE THREE FOR THEM!”

“don’t do this.”

“OTHERWISE SHE MAY END UP DE-” Jupiter is cut off by the loud rattling of your bones.

You tried to hold in your laughter but they were just to funny you couldn’t help it. Your bones rattled loudly as you were hunched over grabbing your ribs in an attempt to silence them.

“Y-Y/N ARE YOU OKAY?”

Taking the time to collect yourself you pick up the orb you dropped and straighten up. “ **Yes, yes I’m fine. You guys are just too funny be-leaf me.** ” Mars chuckles at your use of pun seeming to relax a little again while Jupiter groans covering his eyes with his gloved hand.

“ENOUGH! GO AHEAD APPROACH, Y/N. THAT ORB SHALL PROTECT YOU!”

You give a quick thumbs up before inspecting the space in front of you. It appears to be a large rectangular area that has slightly different color grass than the surrounding area. You don’t sense any magic coming from the rectangle so that cancels out magical traps or invisible walls (the magic is just that undetectable, but I doubt it). So, it has to have some sort of mechanical trap that’s hidden somewhere. You drop to the ground and lay on your stomach as you inspect the trap from a lower perspective. You don’t see anything that looks like a tripwire but just in front of the square you see a barely noticeable circle in the ground. Scooching back slightly you drop the orb on the circle and flinch as a giant bear trap covered in dried blood appears out of the ground.

You get up from the ground taking the orb with you as you stare at the trap. It’s big enough to have snapped your neck into if you had stepped into it. Not sure if there were other traps hidden with the rectangle you were about to roll the orb across it when Jupiter begins talking again.

“WOWIE! ON THE FIRST TRY YOU SOLVED THE PUZZLE! FINALLY, SOMEONE WORTHY TO TRY MY PUZZLES!”

“heh. yeah.” Mars says through greeted teeth. He looks very tense and his eye light has contracted while appearing a little hazy.

“OH GOODNESS! OH GRACIOUS! Y/N ONLY HAS FOUR PUZZLES LEFT!!! AND STILL THREE WHOLE FRISBEES!!!” Jupiter yells as he runs ahead to the next puzzle.

“wait. what?”

“THERE’S NO TIME TO LOSE! TO THE NEXT PUZZLE, MARS!”

“whatever you say paps.”

On your way to the next puzzle you were kind of getting some bad feelings about this. You thought these would be more along the lines of fun, friendly, and non-life-threatening puzzles, but that last puzzles was definitely a deadly. Judging by Mars expression it doesn’t look like they are purposely trying to kill you but maybe it was just that puzzle and the next one will be non-threatening. If any of the puzzles do seem threatening I still have three freebies, but maybe Jupiter won’t be too disappointed if I decide to stop early.

Before you arrive at the next puzzle you see Mars blocking the path look a bit on edge. His eye light is still hazy and his posture is ridge. His smile is stretched wide and curls near his cheek bones, making him appear a little unhinged.

“here’s something important to remember. around here we have a very **special snow**. if you see **blue snow**. don’t walk on it and it won’t hurt you. Here’s an easy was to keep it in mind imagine a stop sign. when you see a stop sign, you **stop**. right? Stop signs are **red** , so imagine a **blue** stop sign instead. Simple right? so remember, when walking…think about blue stop signs.”

You give him a firm nod in understanding as he turns and starts walking away. Briefly you wonder if that counts as a freebie or if thought Jupiter’s next puzzle was a little too deadly for you. Thinking a bit you decide to try the next puzzle, Mars gave you a hint on how to go about the next puzzle. Although, if all these puzzles are going to be deadly maybe it would be better to call off the puzzles until we make some family-friendly safe puzzles. with heavy emphasize on the safe part. Don’t get me wrong I like a little bit of danger in my puzzle (I do raid dungeons after all) but I like to be prepared beforehand.

After a while you arrive at the next puzzle. Similarly, to the last puzzles it’s in an open filed with a long rectangle between you and the brothers. The difference this time is that the rectangle is longer and is made out of snow. However, instead of being white it’s a pale blue color.

“AND SO, IT BEGINS AGAIN! Y/N! I CHALLENGE YOU TO CROSS THIS EMPTY SPACE OF SNOW! HOW HARD CAN THAT BE?”

‘Okay so I’m not supposed to walk on the blue snow, but why?’ you glance around your immediate area for something useful, when you gaze falls upon a stick. You pick up the stick and inspect it, it’s about and inch thick and as long as your forearm. A perfectly good stick for wacking the unknown. Kneeling down in front of the snow you try to wack at the snow, when the snow sticks to it. You try to move and wiggle the stick but the snow just keeps clinging to it and dragging it down. It’s like quick sand but super sticky. Finally, you let go of the stick in fear of the snow coming in contact with your bones. Who knows if you’d get those pieces back.

‘Looks like my only option is to either good around, use a magic item, or to ask for a freebie. Do I even have a magic item for this specific situation...? let’s just try going around it.’ You head to the corner of the rectangle, getting ready walk around when you glance at Mars. He was tense and his eye light constricted again, and what appeared to be navy blue liquid trickling down his head (is that sweat?).

Taking that as a bad sign you grab a rock that was near your foot and slam it on the ground in front of you. Sharp blood covered bones shot out from the ground. Well at least now you know why he didn’t want you to go over here.

‘I don’t really want to look through my bag to see if I have something that can take me over soooo. I’ll just use that freebie.’

You hold up you’re hand and flash a three for the brothers to see. “YOU HAVEN’T EVEN ATTEMPTED THIS ONE! JUST TAKE A STEP!!!”

Your surprised that Jupiter wants you to take a step after seeing what happened with the stick. Maybe he knows how to solve this puzzle without sink, but then why would Mars warn me. Hopefully Jupiter isn’t actually trying to kill you. He seems nice but his morality seems a bit skewed, or maybe he’s just a little apathetic.

Either way you hold steadfast in your decision and kept your hand in the air showing the number three.

“IT IS NO USE, SHE WILL NOT BUDGE. MARS, RETRIEVE Y/N.”

“you gotta be kidding. i’m not touching that stuff.”

“BIG HELP AS USUAL! FEAR NOT Y/N! I, THE GREAT AND ONLY SKELETON WHO DOES ANYTHING AROUND HERE PAPYRUS, WILL COME TO YOUR AID!!!”

“…that was a little uncalled for.”

Jupiter starts running into the blue snow. You thought he was going to use some type of magic to cross the snow but instead he just kept walking through it. Slowly sinking lower and lower until it was up to his arm pits. Arms above his head, he grabs you by your spin (would have been waist but you don’t have one). He seemed uncomfortable with the thought of picking you up like that so he moves his hands under your arm pits and lifts you up that way.

“UPSY-DAISY!!! NOW THAT WASN’T SO HARD. MAKING SUCH A BIG DEAL OUT OF NOTHING. GOODNESS BROTHER THIS ONE IS DOING WELL!!! WILL SHE SOLVE THE NEXT ONE???”

“clever girl.” Mars looks relieved but still very tensed.

“I MUST SAY YOUR EXEMPLARY PERFORMANCE IS INSPIRING! I THINK YOU MIGHT JUST MAKE IT TO MY FINAL PUZZLE! FINALLY!!!”

Tapping on his arm, you gain his attention and point to the ground. Once safely on the ground you sign to Jupiter.

“ **Jupiter, I’m sorry but these puzzles seem…a bit too dangerous for a friendly hangout.** ”

“Dangerous? WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU MEAN!?”

“ **Their dangerous Papyrus or rather their deadly, very deadly. How about we go back home and we can work on puzzles together! Fun ones that make ya think without the risk of possible death or dismemberment!** ” You could feel Mars barely being able to control his magic, you were staring to worry about him with how tense he was getting. You try to send some of your magic to him in an attempt to calm him down.

“YOU. Y-YOU…WANT TO MAKE A PUZZLE…WITH ME?” He asks the shock and disbelief clear in his voice.

“of course! Who wouldn’t want to make puzzles with the coolest skeleton around.”

“NYEH HEH HEH! OF COURSE, YOU WOULD WISH TO CREATE PUZZLE WITH THE GREAT PUZZLE MASTER PAPYRUS!” He yells as he poses dramatically, before grabbing your hand and running back to the house.

Your chuckles were cut off as you had to sprint to keep up with him. Being thankful that he avoided the blue snow and all the other puzzles on the way back to the house. You could vaguely hear Mars chuckling behind you, hopefully he’s in a better mood than before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So let me know if there are any mistakes and feel free to give me any advice! Also if you have any question I set a tumbler (there's absolutely nothing on it!), so feel free to leave a question or comment there as well. (https://www.tumblr.com/blog/pumpkinflash)I'm sure most of you know that amber gemstones/fossils exists in real life. In our world it's used to help to balance the emotions, clear the mind and release negative energy, aids manifestation, eases stress by clearing phobias and fears, and it is a lovely warm stone to wear. However, here it's a super rare magical stone that can help you find of magical objects. So basically there are two types of gemstones magical ones that mystics use and that actually have effects and the kind that humans use that are just pretty stones and they don't do anything. This is common knowledge in the mystic world.


	5. Logic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get a tour of the house and share puzzles!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will probably be updated twice a month. Let me know what ya think so far and if you see any mistakes .Also for anyone wondering about the other skeles there are 3 more chapters until the next skele bros to comes.

It isn’t long before Jupiter reaches the house with you in tow. You’re a bit exhausted by now thanks to the sudden flipped schedule, the scare with Pin, the deadly puzzles, and now being dragged through the forest by Jupiter. It took a lot of magic concentration to hold your body together, so Jupiter wouldn’t accidentally rip your arm off.

Jupiter kicks the door in and rushes inside while still holding your hand. “WE MUST QUICKLY GATHER THE MATERIALS FOR PUZZLE MAKING!” he explains excitedly.

“ **Okay, where are they?** ” you ask while looking around.

Mars shambles inside with a relaxed smile on his face, “hey pap, why don’t you give y/n a tour of the place, while ya gather your supplies?”

“EXCELLENT IDEA BROTHER! COME Y/N, LET ME SHOW AROUND OUR HUMBLE ABODE.”

With a chuckle you nod your head in agreement before he whisks you away. Up the stairs you come to a hallway with the same chocolate brown walls as down stairs and the same blue carpet. On the wall is a picture of a single white bone. Jupiter said, “IT REMINDS ME OF WHAT’ IMPORTANT IN LIFE.” In the back of the hall under the window was a small pile of socks with sticky notes on them.

Across from the stairs is the bathroom. Jupiter waits by the bathroom door while you explore it. It’s your average sized bathroom; with a sink, bath/shower hook up, a toilet, some towel racks along the wall, and a hamper in the corner. The walls are light blue while the floor tile was a dark brown, with an orange rug in the middle of the floor. In the shower you spotted different kinds of soap specifically made for monster bones (it wasn’t directly stated on the package that it was for monster bone, but you feel like these products probably wouldn’t work as well for you as they do for them). You also notice some shampoos and hair conditioner in the showers.

‘skeletons don’t have hair??’

‘…or do they?’

You immediately shake your head of such thoughts before your mind goes any further into the gutter. Deciding that you looked around enough (plus it feels weird to look at their hygiene products while Jupiter is in the doorway. Don’t want to come off as a creeper after all.) you head to doorway where Jupiter is still waiting for you with a patient smile on his face.

“ARE YOU FINISHED LOOKING AT THE BATHROOM?”

Giving him an affirmative nod, he leads you to the first door on the right. He informs you that it’s Mars’ room and as such you will not be entering, but he insures you that it is very messy in there. The room across from Mars’ is the guest bedroom for when they have guests over.

…too bad they never have any guest.

But he assures you that it’s ready for when they do have guests over!

You really wish you could use the guest room now. Well you could, you’ve slept in a bed just fine before. However, seeing as to how you only gain energy and nutrients via absorption and the hectic day you had so far, sleeping in the ground is probably for the best. The guest room is a simple set up same color walls and carpet as the rest of the house. A queen size bed was in the middle of the room under the window. The bed was neatly made and ready for anyone to sleep on it, although it looks like it hasn’t been slept in at all. On the left side of the bed is a desk with a lamp on it next to a bookshelf stacked full of books. The right side has the dresser and wall closet. Despite not having anyone living here it looks clean. Jupiter must clean in here regularly.

The next stop on the tour is Jupiter’s room, the door has caution tape on it along with various human (?) road signs, including a stop sign, and some reflective tape.

Jupiter opens the door and proceeds to enter his room while waving for you to follow. He stands in the middle of room while he lets you explore. In the corner of the room by his door is a box of bones, across from them is a run down and very out dated computer. Next to the ancient computer is his closet where his clothes are neatly hung. He doesn’t have many and most of them seem to be in the wrong size.

On the other side of the closet is a bookshelf filled with complex puzzle manuals and children’s books. He points out that one of his favorites is “ADVANCED PUZZLE CONSTRUCTION FOR CRITICAL MINDS” AND “PEEK-A-BOO WITH FLUFFY BUNNY”. It’s actually pretty cute that he still likes children books and isn’t afraid to admit it. On the wall next to the bookshelf is a pirate flag.

“ **Hey where did you get this flag?** ”

“OH THAT…U-UNDYE GOT IT FOR ME. SHE FOUND IT AT THE BAY…” he explained in what could be considered a whisper by Jupiter’s standards. He looked down cast as he stared at the floor, shoulder sagging just a bit. Things must not have ended well with whoever this Undyne person is.

Wanting to get his mind off Undyne you point to the action figures on his desk “ **these are some really cool action figures.** ” You hope this is enough to divert his attention.

He perks up a little as he gives you a soft smile “AH YES, MY ACTION FIGURE COLLECTION. A GREAT REFERENCE FOR THEORETICAL BATTLE SCENARIO.”

“ **Awesome maybe later we can plan out different battle scenarios together!** ”

He stares at you in stunned silence of a moment before he seems to find his word again.

“Y-YOU MEAN IT?”

“ **Sure, it sounds like a lot fun! But we still have to make those puzzles.** ”

“GASP! YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT AND WE HAVE NO TIME TO LOSE!” He gently picks you up and hoists you over his shoulder as he grabs various books off the shelf, papers, blueprints, pencils, rulers, protractor, and anything else he thought would be important or useful. You point out to him that he may be carrying you, but you can still carry stuff as well, so now you ended up in an interesting position. You’re still draped over his shoulder but now you are carrying the lighter load of papers, pencils, rulers, and so on.

As he leaves his room you notice his red race-car bed and hope you might find a chance to sleep in it one day. Jupiter, now in a hurry to make puzzles decides to quickly finish up the tour. Across from Jupiter’s room is Dust’s room, which you don’t enter, but once again you are informed that it is also very messy. He carefully runs down stairs, partially because he’s carrying you but also because some parts of the stairs are brittle and rotting.

Once down stairs he shows you the living room which consist of a green couch sited across from the TV. Between the couch and the TV was a fairly long coffee table that had a couple of coasters on it. Next to the couch is a small table with a stack of books on it, that appear to be joke books and physic books. Along the wall is a long table with a rock on a plate next to a jar of sprinkles. He informed you that it is Mars' pet rock that he doesn’t feed. Next to the TV is another pile of socks with sticky notes attached.

You’ll have to go back and investigate the sock piles later, but for now Jupiter is dragging you to the dinner room, it’s pretty bare just a table and some chairs, although the table can sit more people compared to the one in the kitchen. Under the stairs is a door that leads to a tiny room with the washer and dryer hook up. Now that you’ve seen everything, he rushes back into the living room and places the stuff on the table before gently placing you on the couch next to him.

As soon as you to got settled on the couch Mars entered the room with a plate stack full of hot dogs. He hands an empty plate to Jupiter and lets him take a couple of hot dogs, he’s about to offer you some before he remembers you can’t eat.

“I AM VERY IMPRESSED BROTHER! FOR ONCE YOU TOOK THE INITIATIVE TO DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN SLEEP!”

“heh thanks bro”

“ ** _frankly_ I’m impressed as well** ” you may not be able to eat but you can still pun.

“WAIT…” Jupiter says cautiously as if he knew where this conversation was going.

“aw geez kid. i’m just tryin’ ta _ketchup_ to my lil bro” he says while trying to control his mirth, shoulders shaking a bit with his restrained laughter.

“NO.”

“ **You _mustard_ worked really hard then.** ” Your bones begin to rattle lightly against each other as you make your pun. Mars' eye light gets brighter as his smile turns genuine.

“PLEASE STOP.”

“ta be _frank_ with ya, it was _boiling_ in there.”

“ **Oh my gosh that was the _wurst_.** ”

Your bones clank together rhythmically as you laugh and Mars chuckles along with you as he tries to catch his breath(?) to speak again.

“heh i-i don’t know, you seem to be _relishing_ it to me.”

“NYEEEEEEEEEH! ENOUGH ALREADY WITH THESE HORRENDOUS PUNS!” He yells while putting his foot down in an attempt to look stern.

“aw come on paps, i thought that was a real”

“SANS. DON’T. YOU. DARE.”

“ _wiener_.” His eyes are filled with childish mirth as his cheesy grin widens, threatening to split his face in half.

Jupiter releases an ungodly shriek as he stomps his foot in annoyance. Hiding his face in his hands as he tries to hide his smile that peeking through.

You and Mars burst out laughing, unable to contain your laughter any longer. Mars is hunched over while he clutches his sides, navy-blue tears appearing in the corner of his eye sockets. While you’re on the floor, knees pulled up to your chest as one arm wraps around your body and the other bangs against the floor. That was just too good, and Jupiter’s reaction was too perfect. It takes you and Mars a couple of minutes to calm down from your laughing fit.

Jupiter crosses his arms and looks away from us with an exaggerated huff. Looking closely, you can still see what appears to be a relieved smile on his face. Mars straightens himself up and wipes the tears away from his eye sockets before helping you off the floor. You graciously accept his hand and pull yourself up before plopping down on the couch once more. Bones still rattling a little from your laughing fit.

“ARE YOU TWO DONE KNOW?” he asks

“ **Yes, I believe so.** ”

“GOOD. NOW BROTHER IF YOU DON’T MIND, WE HAVE MUCH TO WORK ON.”

“i gotcha” he says as he grabs the plate of hot dogs, “imma meet up with dust and help ‘em out with the traps. be back later.” He says as he heads for the door.

“VERY WELL BROTHER DO TRY TO BE BACK BEFORE DINNER.” Mars nods in reply while looking back at you two.

“ **Okay and be safe!** ” you sign glad to have caught him before he turns and walks out the door.

He seems a little caught off guard by your statement as a light blush appears on his cheek bones. “yeah, be back later,” with that he closes the door.

It’s quite for a moment as you both bring back your attention to the books and papers in front of you. You pick up a couple of books and read the backs of some while skimming through others. Jupiter clears his throat to gain your attention before speaking.

“T-THANK YOU Y/N.” His voice is softer than before.

“ **For what?** ” you ask as you tilt your head in confusion.

“FOR STICKING AROUND. I HAVEN’T SEEN SANS LAUGH LIKE THAT IN A LONG TIME.” His expression holds some sadness to it but also sincerity.

“ **No problem, Paps** ” you place your hand on his knee and give it a gentle squeeze. “ **It’s been fun hanging with you guys too. Honestly, I’m really glad I decided to stay. Sorry if that sounds a bit weird.** ”

Jupiter quickly shakes his head “NOT AT ALL! WE’RE THRILLED TO HAVE YOU HERE.” He reassures with a vibrant light orange blush on his cheek bones.

You can’t help but giggle a bit, at his nervous behavior. He looks cute when he blushes, might have to get him to blush more often. “ **Come on let’s work on your puzzles, shall we.** ”

***

You’ve been working on puzzles with Jupiter for about an hour now and it has not been easy. You ended up spending most of that hour trying to convince Jupiter to pick a non-deadly puzzle. He would instantly go to the more life-threatening puzzles, to which you would point out a less deadly option. He usually agrees that it looks fun yet difficult at the same time. However, he would get a faraway look in his eye sockets, as though remembering something that’s been lost to the past. After looking through his books and blue prints you both decide to design word puzzles rather than a mechanical or physical puzzle, like the ones outside. This change of pace was greatly welcome, as it seemed to help him focus on fun and challenging puzzles rather than deadly ones.

Instead of working on creating a puzzle together you settled on creating puzzles for each other. Jupiter is good at both making and solving puzzles while your strength lies more in solving them. None the less, you still manage to make a few puzzles for him. You gave him some crossword puzzles and riddles to solve and he gave you…logic puzzles.

…

You failed to mention the types of puzzles you dislike such as logical, mathematical, pattern, and strategy puzzles that have strict rules (such as Chess, Go, Shogi, or Pio Nijo). And now, you had an excited Jupiter peering over your shoulder looking at you with expectant eyes.

“ **Ah listen, Papyrus. I like puzzles as much as the next magical being, but I suck at logical puzzles. So, don’t be surprise when I fail at it okay.** ”

“THAT’S OKAY Y/N, AFTER ALL PUZZLES ARE MEANT TO BE CHALLENGING! IF YOU NEED ANY HELP, I’LL BE HAPPY TO GIVE YOU A HINT.” He says with a reassuring smile.

You take a deep breath in “ **Okay, here we go.** ”

‘So, the first one is…’

You are traveling on your way to Kingsville, when you reach a fork in the road, you can turn left or right. You don’t know which one is the correct path. Fortunately, you see two twin brothers standing at the road junction and decide to ask them for directions. You know that one of the two brothers always tells the truth and the other one always lies. However, you don’t know which one tells the truth and which one lies.

How can you find the way to Kingsville by asking just one question to one of the two brothers?

‘Okay this one seems a bit complicated, maybe there’s an easier one?’

At a family party, a grandfather, a grandmother, two fathers, two mothers, four children, three grandchildren, one brother, two sisters, two sons, two daughters, one father-in-law, one mother-in-law, and one daughter-in-law, sit at a table.

At least how many people are sitting at the table?

‘…what?’

 

You have a wolf, a goat, and a cabbage. You must cross a river with the two animals and the cabbage. There is a small rowing boat, in which you can take only one thing with you at a time. If, however, the wolf and the goat are left alone, the wolf will eat the goat. If the goat and the cabbage are left alone, the goat will eat the cabbage.

How can you get across the river with the two animals and the cabbage?

…

 

‘Okay let’s try the last one.’ 

It would help a bit if his handwriting was legible. It’s not completely unreadable but it looks like he tried to write large and fast for some reason.

You spent the next hour “thinking” about how to solve these puzzles and every time you think you get close to a solution there another fact that you keep overlooking. How about we just let the goat eat the cabbage, technically the cabbage is still there just in a more digested form. Jupiter kept asking if you want a hint, but you just waved him off determined to solve at least one of them. You really should have taken that hint.

Glancing over at Jupiter you see that he is holding your last riddle in his hand at arm’s length as he squints his eye sockets. He’s been doing that a lot since you started, and it’s not just your writing. He had a similar problem with reading the puzzle books as well. You gave him some crosswords and riddles to solve, none of which were particularly difficult, at least it shouldn’t be for him based on these complicated books he reads. However, it’s taken him a while to solve them, maybe he has poor vision.

You tried to help him in subtle ways by asking if he can’t read your poor handwriting, but he assures you that your handwriting is rather beautiful while a light blush graces his cheek bones. Maybe you can give him some glasses, once you finish a puzzle.

Metaphorically sighing deeply, you sign “ **Okay Pap can I please have a hint on the last puzzle?** ”

He perks up at this with renewed interest as he puts down your riddle. “REMEMBER YOU DON’T HAVE TO TRAVEL ALONE.” He explains before chuckling in anticipation.

‘I don’t have to travel alone?’ You think on what he said for a moment before it finally clicks. Once you bring something to the other side of the river doesn’t mean it’s stuck there permanently, you can always bring something back and get it later. It’s inconvenient but it works.

Your about to write down your answer but figuring he would have a difficult time reading it, so you decide to tell him instead.

“ **So, the answer is to take the goat over first then go back for the wolf. Then bring the goat back and leave the wolf on the other side. Leave the goat behind and bring the cabbage back to where the wolf is. Finally go back and get the goat. Is that right?** ” you sign feeling mildly clever.

“YES, VERY GOOD! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT AND IT ONLY TOOK ONE HINT!”

“ **Thanks Paps, but I think I’ll leave the rest of them for later. I’ve never been good at logical puzzles ya know.** ”

Stroking his chin, he considers your suggestion “HMM WHILE I’M SURE YOU COULD SOLVE THESE PUZZLES IF GIVEN THE TIME-”

‘Yeah a life time’

“I WILL RESPECT YOUR DECISION AND MAYBE NEXT TIME I CAN PICK OUT SOME PUZZLES THAT PLAY MORE TO YOUR SKILL SETS.” He suggests with a hopeful smile.

“ **Definitely! This was super fun, it gave my brain a real work out** ” you say with a chuckle as Jupiter laughs along with you. “ **By the way before you finish that last riddle, I have something I want you to try on. Is that cool?** ”

“WHY OF COURSE, Y/N. WHAT IS IT?”

You pull out several glasses cases out of your bag and place them on the table. Carefully opening them up and taking the glasses out, for easy access. Then making sure to bring out a **regular** mirror you place it on the table as well.

“ **Here we go! I noticed you seem to have some trouble seeing things that are close up. So how about we try on some glasses and see what fits for you.** ”

Jupiter is quiet for a moment he quickly shakes his head, giving you a firm nod. He takes his time to looks over the different style of glasses you have spread out over the table and you do as well. Doing your best to see which set would look good on him. After some time, he picks up a red pair of glasses, that you also quite like, and puts them on before looking into the mirror.

He stares at himself in silence for a while before looking around the room, at the papers scattered about, flipping through pages in a book before his eye sockets land on you. He slowly reaches out to cup your face in his hand as tears start to build up in his eyes.

“ **Those glasses look good on you. I think it really suits you.** ” You say as you lean into his touch.

The next thing you know you’re pulled into his lap as he wraps his arms around your spine and cries into the nook of your neck. Face pressed against his chest as he continues to sob. Tears dampening the shoulder of your shirt. You rub circles on his back in a soothing motion, it’s all you can do since you can’t sign to him in this position. He whispers his thanks over and over again as you begin rocking with him, while continuing to rub his back.

You stayed in that position for a couple of minutes, while trying to fight off sleep. Jupiter sniffles a bit before pulling back keeping his hands on your shoulders. Reaching up you wipe away the tear streaks from his cheek bones. He blushes a light orange as he nuzzles into your hand before kissing your palm.

“Thank you Y/N. Truly, thank you.” He says in a unusually soft voice.

“ **No problem, that’s what friends are for!** ” His face brightens up at the confirmation of your friendship as he once again traps you in a bear hug.

“what’s going on here?” Mars ask sounding very confused.

Jupiter gently sets you back onto the couch “GASP! BROTHERS, I CAN SEE YOU BOTH SO CLEARLY NOW…AND YOUR FILTHY!! HURRY UP AND GET YOURSELVES CLEANED UP. THIS IS A JOYOUS OCCASION AND I PLAN ON MAKING MY FAMOUS FRIENDSHIP SPAGHETTI!” He runs into the kitchen with an excited Nyeh heh heh.

“so, what did happen while we were gone.”

“ **Well, we came back here to work on some non-lethal puzzles and ended up creating word puzzles. I noticed that Papyrus was having a hard time seeing so I let him pick out a pair of glasses from the table.** ” You explain while gesturing to the table in front of you.

Dust plops down on the couch besides you smelling of the outdoors and a metallic scent, iron maybe? He was covered in what appears to be dirt and maybe blood, looking towards Mars you notice that he’s in a similar state as Dust.

Mars coming over to look at the glasses picks one up to inspect it. “so ya just gave him a pair for free.”

“ **Of course! That’s what friends are for after all.** ”

“and you just happened to have the right prescription for him too huh.”

“ **Actually, these are mystic glasses,** ” you say as you pick up a pair for you and Dust to hold. “ **They have magic in the lenses that adjust to the wearers eyes. This allows for anyone to be able to wear them without having to worry about prescriptions. Likewise, if you don’t have poor eye sight then it’ll be like wearing fake glasses.** ”

Dust and Mars seem impress with this simple piece of mystic technology as they try on the glasses and look around. Dust has a pair of slick black rectangular glasses and Mars is sporting a pair of navy-blue oval glasses. Honestly, they look sexy in them, maybe you can get a picture of them in their glasses. Come to think of it you’ll need one of Jupiter too.

“wait, how are these staying on.” Mars asks.

“Maaaaggggic” you say, before moving your hands in an arch while wiggle your phalanges.

Dust starts snickering besides you while Mars gives you an unimpressed stare, but you can see the corners of his mouth twitch.

“ **Okay okay the real answer is still magic. They embedded it into glasses so that it’ll stick to your face regardless of whether or not you have a nose or ears. I think it uses maginetic to keep them in place. The same magicnology is used in my sunglasses.** ” You explain while pointing to your sunglasses.

They looked even more confused and opened their mouths to ask a question but were interrupted by Jupiter, who stood in the doorway of the kitchen.

“MARS, DUST, I SEE THAT YOU HAVE YET TO CLEAN YOURSELF AND DINNER WILL BE READY IN A COUPLE OF MINUTES!”

“heh sorry bro _eye_ just got a bit distracted.”

Jupiter and Ember groan in unison.

“ _eye_ see what you did there” Dust adds.

“ **Boo no reusing puns!** ” You sign with a chuckle.

“ _tibia_ honest i though it was pretty good,” says Dust.

“ **Of course, you would find it _humerus_.** ”

“heh heh heh don’t tell me that didn’t tickle your _funny bone_ ,” ask Mars?

“i thought it was a real rib-”

“NYO HO HO HO” Jupiter cries out!

“This is a fate…worse than death!” Ember states in despair.

‘Oh, come on it’s not that bad, although I will admit it was quite _spect-acle_ ’

“That…was horrible”

‘You’re smiling.’

“I am and…I hate it,” states Ember.

Mars and Dust have been cracking out skeletons puns until Papyrus unleashes an unholy scream that could rival a banshee.

“CAN WE PLEASE CONTINUE ON WITH OUR LIVES!! AND STOP WITH THESE HORRID PUNS. PLEASE!”

“…Yes…I second that notion.”

‘Alright, alright.’

“ **Alright, alright. But first I know you guys said you were going to check the traps but for what. What are they there for?** ”

There was a beat of silence until Mars spoke up through gritted teeth.

“animals. we use them for hunting.”

“AND FOR CAPTURING TRESPASSERS! N-NOT THAT WE’VE HAD ANY BEFORE YOU THAT IS.” Jupiter reassures you.

“yeah… we mainly use them for hunting.”

Well that made sense as to why all the puzzles were deadly then.

“So, do all monsters use puzzles to hunt?”

There is another beat of silence as the joy seems to leave everyone only to be replaced with nervous and judgmental stares.

“…no. traditionally monsters use puzzle for fun, to test family and friends. they would often give a puzzle as a gift, a way to apologize, or even used as a way to propose.” Mars explains while not fully meeting your eye sockets.

“T-THAT’S RIGHT Y/N, PUZZLES ARE A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF MONSTER CULTURE! NOT ONLY HAVE THEY BEEN USE AS A FUN WAY TO BRING MONSTERS TOGETHER, BUT IT CAN ALSO BE USED TO DEFEND US AGAINST ATTACKS.”

“yeah. things got kinda bad were we came from. puzzles became more of a hunting method and a way of survival more than something for fun and amusement.”

Oh.

It’s kinda like questing for mystics but it seems to have taken a sad turn.

“ **Well I’m glad we got to work on puzzles together Paps! And you guys aren’t underground anymore, if you want to keep using puzzles as a form of hunting that’s fine but I wouldn’t mind just having fun solving and creating puzzles with you guys!** ” You try to give them your most reassuring smile as they look at you with varying degrees of shocked expressions.

Jupiter scoops you up in another bear hug “WHY OF COURSE Y/N, WE’D BE HAPPY TO WORK ON PUZZLES WITH YOU! I REALLY HAD FUN TODAY AS WELL!”

Your bones rattle gently as Jupiter releases you and turns his attention to Mars and Dust. “NOW YOU TWO HURRY UP AND GET READY DINNER IS ALMOST READY!”

Mars and Dust leave to shower and change clothes. Leaving you with Ember and Jupiter in the kitchen. You’re still curious about monster culture but it sounds like their time underground might be a bit touchy. How to learn more about monster, and by extension them, without touching a nerve, ha.

“THEY NEED TO HURRY UP. WE’RE ABOUT TO MISS MY FAVORITE SHOW WITH ALL THEIR BOONDOGGLING!” Jupiter can’t see it but Ember nods in agreement.

“ **Favorite show?** ”

“YES, METTATON!” “Mettaton..!” Jupiter and Ember exclaims at the same time.

“ **Mettaton? Who’s that?** ”

Gasping dramatically rather than actually saying gasp “Mettaton is a famous monster and my favorite sexy rectangle!”

“M-mettaton is not only an actor but also a model, chef, and singer!”

“HE IS TRULY THE STAR OF THE UNDERGROUND!” “He is truly…the star of the…u-underground” they say at the same time.

Giggling slightly as your bones rattle gently “ **Guess I’ll have to watch some of his work then.** ”

“YES..!”

“GASP!” He seems to realize something as he brings his hand to his cheek bones with an expression of pure glee, “WE CAN HAVE A METTATON MOVIE MARATHON! I’LL GO PREPARE THE LIVING ROOM WHILE WE WAIT FOR MY LAZY BROTHERS!” And with that he runs out of the kitchen to prepare.

***

Jupiter had finished preparing the living the room for movie night. Dinner for three were placed on the coffee table, along with a large bowl of popcorn, within a giant blanket fort. The floor is covered in a ridiculous large amount of pillows and blankets. Chairs from the kitchen were brought in to hold up the roof of the blanket fort along with the couch. Truly the perfect place for a movie marathon and a nap. You were firmly tucked into a blanket in the pillow fort, reveling in the supreme comfort of it all. Jupiter and Ember were talking excitedly about Mettaton (to you of course, not each other), they can barely wait to see your reaction to the master piece that is Mettaton.

As soon as Mars and Dust enter the living room Jupiter ushers them into the blanket fort and sits them down in front of their respective plates. You noticed that they were still wearing the glasses, must have forgotten to take them off. Speaking of forgetting to take things off, you take off your sunglasses since you don’t need them for now. Jupiter is excitedly preparing the movie, so you don’t want to interrupt with your request but…

‘Hey Ember, do you think you could somehow get me a picture of everyone wearing their glasses?’ you ask feeling hopeful. You know he can’t physically take their pictures but maybe he can convince Dust to take a picture of everyone and then send it to you or something. If not, you can always do it yourself tomorrow.

He stares at you for a moment before responding “…Of course! Just leave it to me, the Great and Spectral Ember!”

‘ha ha ha Thanks Ember.’ You catch Dust staring at you with a questioning gaze but you know he’ll find out sooner or later, so you ignore him for now.

Once everyone is situated and comfortable the movie marathon starts! You ended up sitting in Jupiter’s lap with Dust resting his head on your right shoulder as he sleeps and Mars on your left doing the same. Although he “wakes up” every now and again to either tell a pun or make a comment on the movie. Ember has made himself comfortable in your lap, to which your thankful that Dust refused to let you hold the popcorn or else that would’ve been awkward.

Mettaton has a wide variety of movies from comedy, to romance, to musical, mystery, action and adventure, and even horror. Most of them were pretty bad, especially the mysteries one it was easy to spot who the culprit was within the first thirty minutes of the movie. Even Jupiter and Ember had to admit that despite the many talents of Mettaton mysteries and horror weren’t his strong suit, he mainly excelled in romance, drama, and musical. Which made for a very emotional time when you watched one of his newest works that was a combination of all three.

Between each movie you would take a break and hold a very in-depth conversation about the pros and cons of the movie. Now you weren’t a movie buff, but you could still hold conversations about obvious plot hole and characters acting out of character. It was reassuring to know that despite Jupiter and Ember being huge fans of Mettaton they still acknowledged his faults instead of seeing him as a perfect being and chewing your head off for even trying to point out a flaw in his movies.

You couldn’t really tell if Mars and Dust dislike Mettaton and that’s why they were asleep or if this blanket fort was just too effective. After you started pointing out random people, monsters and events happening in the background Mars and Dust both “woke up” and started paying attention to the movies. Much to Jupiter’s dismay the three of you began pointing out people with funny hats, that person who somehow managed to be in every scene, a tree that was actually a cat monster dressed up as a tree, and so on.

It started to become a game on who could point out the weirdest thing in the background and to everyone’s surprise Jupiter even played along and occasionally won. You managed to win a couple round which may or may not be thanks to a certain skeleton ghost. To which Dust was quick to whisper in your ear-hole “dirty cheater” with a teasing smile. It sent a pleasurable shudder down your spine that you really hope no one noticed.

It was getting late, Jupiter who by now was already changed into his spaghetti pajamas had fallen asleep. Honestly you were going in and out of sleep as well. Today was a bit too hectic with too little sleep, from the early wake up call, to the puzzles, and now a movie marathon it’s been a long day. Fun, but long. Looks like you’re going to be forced to go to the day time schedule while you’re here.

You hear hushed whisper going on above you before someone scoops you up in their arms. It’s either Mars or Dust but you can’t really tell who it is, you’re far to lazy to try and far to tired to care. You snuggle up into the chest of whoever is holding you as your bones gently clank together. The Sans holding you stops for a bit and tenses up before continuing to walk again. Soon you feel the cool night breeze brush across your face as you’re being carried out the house.

Your gently lowered to the ground as though your glass that’ll break at any moment. You start to unconsciously sink into the ground but the arms around you tighten a bit before reluctantly letting you go. Before your torso disappears into the ground, he leans in close whispering a “thank you” in your ear hole before letting you disappear beneath the earth crust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to let you know Pio Nijo is a mystic game that may or may not be explained later in the story (probably not tho). For anyone interested in Jupiter's puzzles you can find them and more at this link. (Note: I did re-word some of the puzzles).
> 
> https://puzzle.dse.nl/logical/index_us.html#traveler
> 
> The puzzles used are; Troubled Traveler, Family Fuss, and The Wolf, the Goat, and the Cabbage.


	6. Master of Disguise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ya'll going shopping!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So remember how last chapter I said I would upload twice a month? Well not this month, so instead have this long chapter! Also thanks for all the kudos, hits, bookmarks, and comments! I really appreciate them :)

Your vision comes into view as you awaken from your slumber. Seeing nothing but dirt you sit up, stretching your arms above your head. The dirt filters off your bones and out of your skull and ribs. The falling dirt bounces off your bones, which is both soothing and relaxing. Thankfully they brought your bag out here, so you put on your sunglasses and go back to sleepily enjoying your peaceful morning.

After about ten minutes of just sitting in the ground you finally decide to get up. Stretching while enjoying the feeling of the sun on your bones, you shake the remaining dirt off. As you reach down to put your bag on you notice that your clothes are awkwardly stuck in the ground. With parts of your clothes sticking out at odd angles. You must have taken your clothes off while you were asleep.

Sighing heavily, you take your clothes out of the ground, dust them off as best you could, before putting them back on. Hoisting your bag on your shoulder you make your way to the house. You try the backdoor, but it’s locked.

Knock knock, you knock on the door.

‘Hey Ember, open up. It’s me!’

“who’s there”

‘…Uhhhh’ You can’t sign back so you stand there awkwardly, wondering how you’re supposed to continue the joke.

‘uh Candice?’ you ask hopeful. Some muffled talking goes on, on the other side of the door.

“candice who?”

‘ _Candice_ door open, or what?’

You hear a groan on the other side of the door and some snickering, before Dust opens the door with a very grumpy Ember.

“Next…time d…don’t make me t-translate your terrible jokes!” Ember exclaims in annoyance.

“ **Sorry Ember, won’t happen again.** ” Dust moves aside so you can enter the house.

“…Good” he says with a nod of his head as Dust tries to hide the remainder of his chuckles.

“ **Where are the others?** ”

He thrust his thumb in the direction of the living room where you can hear yelling? Jupiter seems to yell all the time, but Mars is louder than usual. As your group enters the living room you find Mars and Jupiter arguing.

“then let them deal with it. it’s ‘bout time that mirror faced the consequences of his action.” Mars said with malice in his voice.

“B-BUT SANS WE AREN’T QUITE AS STRONG AS…”

You run up to Jupiter and hug him from behind, making your presence known but also cutting Jupiter off.

“Y-Y/N YOU’RE HERE EARLY?”

“ **Yeah, I think my sleep schedule has switch to the night shift, so I’ll be hanging out with you guys during the day!** ”

“THAT’S WONDERFUL NEWS!” He takes in your appearance before gasping “Y/N YOUR CLOTHES ARE FILTHY!”

You look down at your clothes and they are dirty maybe not filthy but definitely dirty. Your clothes are wrinkled and stained brown from the dirt. Your shirt is almost completely light brown now. You have a fine layer of dirt all over you, not that you really mind, but you also wouldn’t mind a bath either.

“ **Well I do sleep in the ground and only have one outfit, which technically isn’t even mine.** ” You state looking back up at Jupiter who appears to be scratching his chin in thought.

Jupiter sigh in defeat “FINE, I SUPPOSE WE SHOULD GO INTO TOWN. Y/N IS IN DESPERATE NEED OF SOME NEW CLOTHES AND WE COULD USE A FEW THINGS AROUND THE HOUSE.”

‘I’m not in desperate need.’

“…Yes, you are…” you glare at Ember which you can’t really do but you hope your “aura” gets the point across.

“finally.” Dust says with a huff.

Being a little confused as to why Jupiter seemed to be using you as an excuse to go shopping, you decide to ask. “ **Is that what you two were arguing about? Going shopping?** ” You ask looking between Mars and Jupiter.

Mars tenses slightly as he releases a tight “yeah” through clenched teeth.

“ **…Is something wrong with shopping?** ” you’re not really a fan of shopping either but it seems like there’s more to it than just shopping.

“we can’t leave forest.” Dust says bluntly, eyes lidded with an expression that says, “I’ve been done with this conversation.” Mars sends a glare his way while you’re still confused.

“DUST, WHILE I APPRECIATE YOUR BLUNTNESS ON OCCASION SOMETIMES IT CAN JUST BE IRRITATING.” Dust shrugs his shoulders as he leans against the wall.

“ **Sooo why can’t you leave the forest.** ” You ask hoping this wasn’t a sensitive topic, even if you feel like it might be.

There was a beat of silence before Jupiter nervously spoke up.

“Y-YOU SEE Y/N, THERE ARE…OTHERS LIVING IN THE FOREST AS WELL AND THEY…” he looks like he’s trying to find the right word.

“don’t give a shit about us” Mars cuts in, just as blunt as Dust it seems.

Jupiter looks like he wanted to deny that claim but couldn’t. Sighing heavily, he speaks again “YES, YOU SEE WE LOOK…SIMILAR TO THE OTHERS MINUS SOME…DIFFERENCES. IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN TO OTHER PEOPLE, SO WE HAVE TO REMAIN HIDDEN WITHIN THE FOREST.”

Dust scoffs at that.

‘Mhmm so they’re clones. Not uncommon but definitely not the smartest idea to clone yourself so close to humans, and without a barrier no less.’ You nod your head to confirm that you understand everything so far and notice that Dust seems to be staring at you with sneaking suspicion, while Ember hovers beside him.

“ **Is there a way for you to go into town without feeling uncomfortable?** ” you ask already getting an idea.

“not unless you know how to hide a 6’9 skeleton” Dust says with a dry chuckle as Jupiter hunches in on himself a bit.

“ **What about a disguise?** ”

“disguise?” Mars questions raising a brow bone.

“OH, YOU MEAN LIKE A WIG AND MUSTACHE!?” Jupiter asks looking very excited.

“ **Kinda, I mean something like...** ” you reach into your bag and dig around until you find what you’re looking for “ **THIS!** ” You raise your hand with a watch like device in it as you imagine treasure finding music playing in the background.

“uh what’s that?” Mars ask.

“ **This!** ” you say as you pose again, showing off the watch. “ **Is a shape-shifting device!** ”

You officially got everyone’s attention, as everyone including Dust moved closer to see the watch like device. It is a mixture of a classic face clock and a digital one. It has a brown strap while the watch itself is sliver. Throughout the watch there are bits of orange in the hands of the clock, stitching, tick marks, and numbers.

You gently grab Jupiter’s hand and put the watch on his wrist, noticing how Mars tenses up slightly at the motion. Once the watch is on securely, you give directions on how to use the watch.

“ **Papyrus, try thinking of what you want to look like and then set the timer to five minutes.** ” You briefly explain while showing him how to set the timer.

He takes some time to collect his thoughts. Closing his eyes as he takes a few deep breaths and imagine what he wants to look like. Without opening his eyes, he presses the button to start the timer and the watch actives. The watch flickers a light orange as magic seeps out of the watch and quickly covers Jupiter. Mars looks really tense and sweaty, like he wants to rip the watch off but is afraid that doing so could harm Jupiter in the process. In hopes of providing some comfort you hold his hand and give it a gentle squeeze as Jupiter’s transformation comes to an end.

Jupiter surprisingly looks the same. Except for a few changes; his teeth are fixed, eye sockets aren’t sunken, bones a bit brighter, and he’s a couple of inches shorter. It’s like someone erased a huge chunk of his past that made him who he is.

‘…I don’t like it.’

Ember looked at you curiously while Mars’ grip on your hand tighten. You looked at him and noticed that his eye light was out, taking a glance at Dust you notice that he looks disconnected. He doesn’t seem happy with Jupiter’s decision but it’s hard to tell. His eye lights are dull and vacant while his smile looks like someone just put it there. It isn’t tight, strained, relax, or genuine, it’s just there.

While you were watching the Sanses Jupiter ran into the hallway to look at himself in the mirror. You wanted to follow him to see his reaction but Mars’ grip on your hand was too tight and he wasn’t budging an inch. It was like he was glued to the floor as he just started where Jupiter was with vacant sockets. Giving up on going after Jupiter you notice that Mars is trembling as sweat begins to accumulate on his skull. Everything seems quite except the distant sound of Jupiter mumbling to himself and Mars’ grinding his teeth.

Looking towards Ember and Dust, Ember looks worried while Dust continues to look vacant, life-less. Jupiter’s new form does not appear to be making the others happy.

‘Ember what’s wrong and why do they look like they are on the verge of a panic attack!?’

“…”

‘E-Ember!?’

“…That’s…how we used…t-to l-look…before things ch-changed.” Before things changed? So that’s how Ember and Jupiter used to look before something bad happened, but would that cause such a negative reaction in the Sanses? Focusing on your soul you try and release a bit of magic to help calm and sooth everyone. Today was apparently supposed to be a shopping day not panic attack mental break down day! You grab Dust’s hand as well and give it a gentle squeeze, but he doesn’t respond at all just stands there.

“…Why?”

‘What?’ You ask being shocked out of your thoughts by his sudden question.

“…Why do you dislike…this version of him?”

‘Oh, it’s not that I dislike it, if this is just a younger version of himself. But before it felt like he just erased a portion of his past, a part of what makes him, him ya know. I don’t know what you two or you four have been through but it’s what made you guys who you are today. I like who you are, and I don’t want that to change’ you explain to Ember.

Ember floats over to nuzzle your cheek bone, not that you feel anything but it’s the thought that counts. “…Thank…you…” he says in a quitter voice.

Dust lightly squeezes your hand back and you look up to see that he’s looking at you and Ember. His eyes are still distant and lifeless, but his eye lights seem a bit more focus, like he’s slowly coming back. Taking a glance at Mars, you can tell that he stopped trembling, his eye light is back, and his grip on your hand has loosen just a touch.

Jupiter comes back, and you hope it won’t send the others back into a panic attack, as their grip increases slightly. Jupiter stands before you looking horrible. His face is stained with orange tears, his smile is forced as it quivers, brow bones furrowed, and hands balled into a tight fist by his side. He is standing tall, but his frame is shaking heavily. Honestly, he looks like he is nervous, afraid, happy yet sad, confused. Almost like he’s having an existential crisis.

He needs…

 

Validation.

 

And he wants it from you.

 

“Y-Y/N, H-HOW DO I LOOK?” He asks you nervously hands still balled up by his side. Mars and Dust haven’t looked at Ember since he came back in the room but their grip on your hand continue to get stronger. It really hurts and there’s no doubt about it, your hands will be sore after this.

Trying to move your hands so you can sign to Jupiter proves to be futile since neither Sans is willing to let go. Jupiter looks worse and worse the longer you take to respond so you nuzzle against Mars’s cheek bones silently asking him to trust you and letting him know that it’s okay. After the initial shock of bodily contact, he starts to relax a bit and with one final squeeze of you hand he lets it go completely.

Ember seems to be trying to calm down Dust but it doesn’t appear to be enough to get him out of his own mind. You know that you need to answer Jupiter’s question, but you can’t really do that properly with just one hand. Thinking fast you pull Dust in to a hug, positioning him so that his head rests on chest, near your soul. He tenses a bit before slowly relaxing in your hold. You pet his skull in a soothing motion as Ember continues to comfort him verbally. He takes slow and deep breathes, bringing his face closer to your sternum before pulling away. He looks you in eye sockets for a moment, his eyes are sharper and a little brighter. He breaks eye contact and heads for the kitchen whispering an “i’ll be back” under his breath.

“…I’ll go after…him” Ember reassures.

He clearly isn’t better but he’s back.

Finally looking back towards Jupiter, you notice that he is in his original form. The timer must have gone off while you were comforting Dust. He still looks like a nervous wreck, but he seems a bit calmer than he did earlier. That’s a relief.

“ **Papyrus,** ” you begin already feeling the pain and soreness in you bones. “ **I like you for you, and I don’t see much of a difference between this you and the other you** ”

“WHA- BUT…” you cut him off by holding your hand up to signal stop.

“ **Papyrus, I’ve notice that your bones have been getting brighter with each passing day. I like that your tall and your glasses look good on you. As for your teeth you can always get them fixed up in town, and I want you to do it. Not for appearance sake but because I know that has to be uncomfortable for you.** ” Jupiter’s tears fall freely once again as he looks like he’s about to capture you in a hug.

“ **I like you Paps and I’ll always be your friend regardless of your appearance.”** You state with a smile if you could. He quickly wraps you in a hug before sitting down on the couch with you in his lap. He continues to cry as tears once again soak into the shoulder of your shirt. You rub comforting circles on his back and allow him time to calm down. Mars joins your little comfort pile as he sits next to you. Wrapping an arm around Jupiter’s shoulder while the other rest atop your femur, gently stroking you leg in a comforting manner.

Dust and Ember come back, Dust with a bottle of ketchup in hand, as they set down on the couch next to you and Jupiter. It’s clear that Dust doesn’t know how to comfort Jupiter or help the situation. He settles for placing his hand on your other femur as he continues to drink ketchup. After about thirty minutes have passed everyone seems to have calm down. Jupiter apologizes for the scene that he’s made and quickly rushes off to clean himself up. You really want to apologize since it was your device that cause all this in the first place, but your hands hurt, really bad.

Trying to open your bag for some medicine yet failing every time, you finally decide to give up and try again later. Leaning back so your head is resting against the back of the couch while your hands rest on your lap.

“what’s wrong?” Mars asks looking fairly concerned as he looks from your hands to your face.

You can’t really sign at the moment, well you can but you probably shouldn’t so hopefully Ember can get the message across.

‘Uh Ember can you please tell them they may have, accidentally, probably, but most definitely hurt my hands early. Now it hurts to move them.’ You explain not wanting to make anyone feel bad after just starting to get back to normal.

“…What!?” Ember’s sudden ghostly yell is enough to bring Dust out of his half-asleep daze.

“Dust! You and M-Mars have c-crushed Y-Y/N’S hands.”

Dust takes a moment to look at your hands. He gently tries to lift up your hand only for you to hiss (mentally) and pull it away.

“oops.”

“This is no…time for oops…brother!”

“heh sorry.” Dust says in a weird apathetic yet genuine way.

Mars now realizing the problem gently, more so than Dust, lifts your hand and inspects it himself. Noticing that some of the bones are swollen and discolored.

“sorry” he whispers out seeming genuinely sorry but also confused. “i’ll get ya some monster candy” he says as he starts to dig into his jacket pocket.

‘As good as that sounds I still can’t eat.’

“…She still c-can’t…eat.”

“she can’t eat.” Dust says simply, causing Mars to curse under his breath.

“looks like we’ll have to wait for paps to come back so he can heal you.” Mars explains.

You nod your head in agreement since it’s a better option than fighting with your bag to get your medicine. It wasn’t long before Jupiter came back and even less before he’s kneeling before you, healing you. He used a type of healing magic that was green. It was similar to a gaseous glow that surrounded his hands before surrounding your hands as he gently placed his on top of yours. From his magic you could feel him rather than his intent. You felt his energy, his consideration, his passion, his perseverance, his hope, his pain, his hunger, and his insecurities.

Lucky, he finished healing you before you could cry (not that you can), he does however give your head a gently pat with a reassuring smile. “Thanks for healing Paps. Are doing okay?” you ask still feeling a little guilty and concerned about what happen. 

“YES, AND NOW THAT I KNOW HOW TO USE THIS WE CAN HEAD INTO TOWN!” he says with renewed excitement as he looks at the watch.

You can feel Mars and Dust tense up on either side of you. Honestly, you thought you were just going to have a lazy day after what happen. That’s what people do after an emotionally stressful day right? Eat, relax, and surround themselves with things that make them happy and comfortable? Apparently, Jupiter doesn’t agree with that plan, should've known he wasn’t one for a lazy day.

“uh paps” Mars starts nervously but it’s too late Jupiter has already activated the watch.

And there he stands in all his 6’9 glory as a…

 

Mystic skeleton!?

 

His clothes also changed so he’s wearing a white hoodie with white and light blue camouflage pants. His red gloves have been replaced with black finger-less gloves and his red boots replaced with white snow boots. He still has his red scarf but most of it was tucked away in his hoodie with only a part of it visible as it covered his mouth and nose cavity.

Jumping up from the couch you quickly sign “ **Papyrus you look amazing!** ”

“NYEH HEH HEH, OF COURSE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ALWAYS LOOKS AMAZING!” He says with a light blush, despite imitating a mystic skeleton. You notice Ember nodding his head in your peripheral vision. “AND BETTER YET NO ONE WILL RECOGNIZE ME WHILE I’M LIKE THIS! SO, HURRY UP AND GET READY!”

Turning around to look at Mars and Dust, they look more relaxed compared to earlier, but they aren’t moving to get ready.

“I MEANT YOU Y/N, YOU NEED TO GET READY.” Jupiter clarifies, to which you cock your head to the side pointing at yourself in confusion. Jupiter nods his head in confirmation.

“ **No no no no no no. Mystics do not go into the human realm! Only a select few of mystics are allowed into the human realm!** ” you state starting to feel a little nervous. Sure, you were initially planning on going to Ebott City but that was at night! When there was less humans and the darkness the night to help hide and protect you.

Jupiter looks dejected as his shoulders sag, his face true to the nature of a mystic skeleton is expressionless.

“B-BUT YOU NEED NEW CLOTHES! A-AND YOU’LL BE WITH US SO IT’S NOT LIKE YOU’LL BE ALONE!” He tries to the convince you, but you cross your arms in a x formation as you vigorously shake your head no.

Mars puts his hand on your shoulder “you’ll be fine, no one is going to be able to tell you apart from a bunch of skeletons.” he reassures.

“and we’re going to a monster shopping district anyway.” Dust adds.

“...It’ll…be fun.”

Metaphorically sighing heavily “ **Okay I’ll go shopping with you guys, but we should exchange numbers first. Just in case we get separated or something.** ” Dust chuckles behind you but gets up from the couch, while Jupiter excitedly cups his cheek bones with his hands.

“GASP! I DIDN’T REALIZE YOU HAD A PHONE! NOW WE CAN TEXT EACH OTHER ALL THE TIME!” He says with stars in his eyes.

“ **Sure can.** ” ‘or we can just talk since we live in the same house.’ Ember chuckles next to you as add three new contacts to your phone.

Once everyone has your number Jupiter ushers you up stairs and towards the bathroom. He left you a change of clothes and left you to get ready in peace. Quickly stripping down, you hear your phone go off in your bag. Checking it, you see three image messages from Dust.

The first one is of Dust and Mars wearing their new glasses, that you’re not sure they need. Dust has his arms around Mars’ shoulders as they both smile up towards the camera. The second picture is of Jupiter shyly smiling towards the camera in his new glasses with a light orange blush. The third picture is a group photo of all three of them in their glasses. Needles to say they all look sexy but it’s too bad that Ember is the only one not in the picture.

I guess monsters haven’t figured out how to capture ghosts in photos yet. You’ll have to remember to get a picture with Ember later. For now, you thank Dust for the pictures and set the group photo as your wallpaper, before getting into the shower.

You quickly take a shower using your own soap before exiting the shower and getting dressed in the clean clothes that Jupiter has provided for you. Bringing your bag with you, you head down stairs to meet up with everyone.

“ARE YOU READY TO GO?” You nod your head while walking closer to their little group. “GREAT, THEN LET’S GO!”

Jupiter’s hand is on Mars’ shoulder while Mars’ hand is resting on Dust’s shoulder. Dust wraps an arm around your ribs before pulling you into his side and then you were weightless.

And now, you’re standing near a dumpster in what seems like the back of a building.

“ **D-did we just teleport?** ” you ask in disbelief.

“heh it’s a shortcut.” Dust says in a smug voice.

Jupiter starts to lead the way to the front of the building followed by Mars and Dust with you lagging behind, still in shocked. Sure, some mystics can teleport but it’s extremely rare and only very specific types can do that. And yes, there is magi-tech that can allow the user to teleport but even that power is heavily limited, typically requires the formation of portals, and is ridiculously yet reasonably expensive!

“…Are you okay?”

Jumping about an inch off the ground you turn to see Ember is floating behind you. ‘You can teleport too!?’ you yell in shocked, although you really shouldn’t be surprised since he’s a ghost.

“…Well…I can appear places…” he explains sounding unsure if it would count as teleportation or not.

“HURRY UP Y/N! THESE ITEMS AREN’T GOING TO BUY THEMSELVES.” Jupiter calls from up ahead, having stopped with Mars and Dust to let you catch up.

“ **Coming!** ” You run to catch up to the rest of the gang and round the corner of the shopping plaza.

The plaza is made up of different shops lined up in a row. They consist of a grocery store, hardware store, clothing store, shoe store, furniture store, hair store, and what appears to be a monster and Asian fusion restaurant. Jupiter pulls out his list and looks it over.

“HMM WE MIGHT HAVE TO COME BACK LATER.” Jupiter says more so to himself than to you.

“ **What’s on your list?** ”

“WELL, WE NEED SOME NEW CLOTHES FOR ALL OF US, SOME GROCERIES, NEW FURNITURE WOULD BE HELPFUL AS WELL AS SOME TOOLS AND SUPPLIES TO FIX UP THE HOUSE.” He says looking over the list again as he rubs his chin in thought.

“ **Wow that’s a lot of stuff. Do you have enough money to get all that**?”

“AT THE MOMENT NO BUT NOW THAT WE CAN GO INTO TOWN FREELY, I’LL BE ABLE TO GET A JOB!” Jupiter explains sounding hopeful.

“ **Hmm I don’t have any human money, but I can always buy mystic clothes online. That way you won’t have to waste money on me.** ” You suggest.

“it wouldn’t be a waste” Mars interjects.

“THAT’S RIGHT! I INSIST THAT YOU LET US BUY YOU SOMETHING.”

“ **No.** ” you say firmly. “ **If you want when we get back you guys can help me pick out which clothes to buy but for now, I think you should worry about getting what you need for the house.** ”

The four of them share glances before sighing in defeat and agreeing to buy things for the house. Rather than trying to get everything on the list they decided to get clothes, food, and supplies to start fixing up their house. Heading for the clothing store you notice monster walking around with a sprinkle of humans here and there.

This might be the perfect opportunity to test your necklace. Focusing on monster that aren’t your skele-friends, you watch as the necklace starts to glow and hover from your body briefly. It pulls in the direction of the nearest monster (not including your skeleton friends) and gets slightly brighter the closer they get to you.

“uh what’s going on there” Mars ask pointing to your necklace, breaking your concentration.

The necklace falls to your chest and the light slowly fades out. “ **I was testing out the necklace for bit, try to see how it work.** ”

“did you learn anything?” Mars asked with a sly smirk.

“ **Mmmaybe.** ” You say with a teasing tone as you follow Jupiter and Dust into the store.

Once inside the store they all split up to look around the store. Going with Jupiter you help him pick out some clothes. It was a difficult feat to find clothes that suited his complex style and fit him. Despite the odds he did manage to find a couple of jeans, some t-shirts, sweaters, button up shirts, and an infinity scarf that you picked out.

Dust and Mars have been popping around the store, possible literally. Whenever you looked for them, they were in always in different part of the store. Sure, they could have walked over there but they seemed to be moving a little too fast for walking. You don’t see what Dust and Mars bought but you do suggest some dark purple finger-less gloves for Dust and a ketchup pillow with a smiley face stitched on it for Mars.

Despite not planning on buying anything you made sure to try on every hat you saw and pose in front of the mirror. You did see somethings that caught your interest mostly hoodies dresses, sleeveless dress, ponchos, and the only cloak in the store. Every time you put an article of clothing back Dust appears beside you asking if you wanted it or not. Telling him that he doesn’t need to buy it for you only resulted in him asking if you liked it. If you said yes, he took it with him if you said no then he’d stare at you to see if you’re lying before either keeping it or putting it back. If you tried to convince him to put it back, he just said “I’m buying it” leaving no room for argument. After you were finished trying on the hats and the others finished buying their clothes you leave the store.

“ **So where are going next? Grocery store or the hardware store?** ”

“HMM I SUPPOSE WE SHOULD SPLIT UP. DUST AND I WILL GO TO THE GROCERY SHOPPING WHILE YOU AND MARS GO TO THE HARDWARE STORE.” Jupiter suggests while giving half his list to Mars.

“ **Do you want me to carry your bags, since we don’t have a car?** ” Everyone looks at you like you’ve grown a second head.

“THERE WILL BE NO NEED FOR THAT. YOU ARE QUITE FRAGILE, AND WE WOULDN’T WANT YOU HURTING YOURSELF WITH CARRYING OUR HEAVY BAGS. DUST CAN TELEPORT IT BACK HOME.”

‘I’m not fragile! Delicate maybe but not fragile.’

“…It’s the same…thing”

‘Shhh you’

“ **I didn’t mean actually carry it. I have a dimensional box in my phone, so I can just hold it in there.** ” You explain while showing off your phone.

“phones only have ten slots you can put things in. It won’t be able to hold everything.” Dust states having already teleported all the bags to the house, during this conversation.

Looking at them with confusion you tilt your head to the side. “ **Uh my phone can hold up to a one-story house plus car, put together or broken down into their individual components. So, if you want me to hold your stuff so Dust doesn’t have to keep teleporting, I don’t mind.** ” They stare at you mouth agape while you continue to wiggle your phone. A couple more seconds of them standing there with their mouth open and you decide to lean over and help close their mouths. Starting with Mar since he was closer earning you a navy-blue blush.

“WOWIE, THAT HAS TO BE SUPER CONVENIENT!” Jupiter say before you have a chance to close his mouth.

“ **Well my phone is an older model; the newer ones can hold a two-story house and two cars. If you want, I can hook you up with one? It’ll be convenient to since they designed work with the mystic system and the human system.** ”

“REALLY!?” Jupiter asks trembling with excitement.

“ **Sure, we can buy it when we get back.** ” Soon as you finish saying that Jupiter grabs Dust and runs off towards the grocery store.

***

In the hardware store you follow behind Mars looking at random things while he gets everything on the list. You walk together in comfortable silence before Mars speaks.

“is it really okay?”

“ **What do you mean?** ”

“the glasses, the watch, and now the phones. is it really okay to just, give it to us?” He asks looking mildly concern but also a bit skeptical.

“ **Of course! None of it is that expensive and it’s pretty easy to restock on those glasses and other items anyway.** ”

“restock?”

“ **Oh, didn’t I tell you? I’m a traveling merchant!** ”

“a traveling merchant.”

“ **Yup, I go around finding random things and trade or sell stuff to people, typically mystics.** ” Actually, you hadn’t started out as a merchant you just like exploring the world and if you found something cool you brought it with you. Eventually you started meeting people who needed certain items, so you just gave it to them and after a while people started to pay you or insist on trading with you. Next thing you know you get a call from your friend that you’re on the merchant map as a traveling merchant.

“ **You should totally become a merchant! It would fit you so perfectly!** ” You shake his shoulder lightly to help get your point across.

He seems to think about it a bit “i don’t know…”

“ **Come on, you can set up shop in the forest and all you have to do is sell and trade stuff to mystics, heck maybe even to some monsters. I know some mystic will definitely be interested in buying some monster or human stuff. I can even help you set it up if you want?** ” You’re getting really excited by the idea of him being a merchant, he just fits it so well!

Clasping your hand together in a pleading motion silently saying please. He tries to look anywhere but you as a soft blush crosses his cheek bones. Finally, he closes his eye and releases a sigh before agreeing to try being a merchant. You want to get started as soon as possible but he tells you to wait until they finish some of the work that needs to be done on the house. You drop the conversation to pout instead until you get tired of holding your pout.

You meet up with Dust, Ember and Jupiter and put all the groceries and bags from the hardware store into your phone. Afterwards they decide to eat lunch at the monster Asian fusion restaurant. On the way there you asked Jupiter why he went grocery shopping with Dust instead of Mars.

He explained that despite Dust being lazy and generally uninterested in most things he might have a hidden passion for cooking and design. Dust often gives him advice and suggestion when it comes to cooking or picking out furniture.

You turn to Dust who was walking behind you to see if that was true but he just shrugs. Ember, however, informs you that no it isn’t. While Dust did use to bake in the past, he hasn’t done it in a while. He actually just relays information that Ember tells him to Jupiter. It’s his way of keeping Ember involved and to help him feel included.

You think it’s really sweet that Dust would do that despite creating a misunderstanding between him and Jupiter. Dust scoffs from behind you, “i only do it so you’ll shut up,” he says under his breath. He’s looking off to the side with a faint purple blush on his cheek bones. Aw he’s shy, cute.

***

At the restaurant everyone’s eating except for you and Ember. Jupiter has their house special soup, which is some kind of noddle dish that is apparently infused with green healing magic. Mars has chicken teriyaki with pork fried rice that he slathered in ketchup and Dust has spare rib tips with a side of fries covered in ketchup. You’re not even sure where they got the ketchup from! But there it is, on their plates.

“ **I know this is random but how did you guys get groceries before? And where did you get your money from?** ” it’s been bothering you for a while actually. Jupiter doesn’t have a job and Mars most likely doesn’t since he didn’t mention it when you asked him to be a merchant. It’s possible that Dust could have a job, but they also aren’t supposed to leave the forest. There are just so many questions!!!!

“OUR…CARETAKERS WOULD BRING US GROCERIES ONCE A MONTH.”

“ **Caretakers?** ”

“YES, THEY’RE ONE OF THE…OTHERS THAT LIVE IN THE FOREST.”

“ **Oh.** ” Is all you can say.

“…They only give the b-bare minimum of what…we need.”

‘What does that mean?’

“They…give us f-food but not the k-kind we like. If it’s not…essential to k-keep us…alive then they d-don’t buy it for us…” Ember says with an agitated huff.

That explains why their house is in need of repairs and why it lacks decor and technology. Their “caretakers” just buy them random food and that’s it, they don’t even have the decency to buy them things they actually like.

“ **That sucks.** ” Ember nods his head in agreement while the other look confused, probably unsure of what you’re referring to, but you think it still fits with the context of the conversation. “ **But now you don’t need those “caretakers” anymore, since you can just come to town freely now!** ” You state hoping to change the mood, there was enough sadness earlier today we don’t need more of it.

“THAT IS TRUE” he puts a hand on top of your giving you a warm smile. “AND IT’S ALL THANKS TO YOU.”

Metaphorically blushing you try to deny the claims, but he shakes his head and reassures you that you were a great help. Mars chimes in explaining how Dust and he would sneak into town and try to buy things from the money they had saved while they were underground. They converted some of their gold, monster currency, into human currency without the others knowledge. This way they could buy things when their “caretakers” didn’t give them enough supplies for the month. Since they didn’t have a job, they had to be careful with how much money they spent.

Underneath the table Dust brings his foot to rest on the inside of your right foot. You feel your phone buzz as Mars holds your right hand from under the table. Checking your phone with your left hand you see that you have a message from Mars.

Mars: thanks for 2day you really helped us out

Mars: and thanks for the new gig.

You: heh no problem! _Miso_ happy to help, after all skeletons have to _stick together_.

Mars snorts beside making him spite up ketchup while he has a laughing fit, while Jupiter stares on in disgust and Dust and Ember in confusion.

“SANS! PLEASE DON’T LAUGH WHILE YOU’RE EATING IT IS DISGUSTING.”

Jupiter’s outburst and the confused looks is enough to make you break down into a laughing mess alongside Mars. Your bones rattle against one another. You give your phone to the confused Dust so he can see what's so funny.

He chuckles a little before handing your phone back “ _udon_ say” Dust says with a teasing smirk. You, Mars and Dust share a look and in that moment everyone knew a pun war was about to begin. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and as always if you have any comments or helpful criticism please feel free to comment below!


	7. A Phasing Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You go exploring in the woods and find something mystical in a cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I'm back! Before you read this chapter I did re-post chapter one with some edits, I didn't add any plot points or foreshadowing so don't feel pressured to go back and reread. When I post a new chapter I'll probably be re-posting an old one as well so I'll let you know if I changed anything major that you might want to go back and reread. Oh, also I'm changing my pseud to Tea_Cup, don't worry it's still me.

Pulling out a leather book with thick textured paper, you open it up to a new page. Using your bone themed pen, you start drawing the magical flower in front of you. Taking note of the vibrant purple and orange petals, watching as the colors move and shift within the petals. The stem and stigma are a glittery light blue while the anthers glow a shiny gold color. This flower is really popular, not just because of its natural beauty but for its magical benefits.

It can be used for tasty teas and is commonly used in potions by mages or potion makers. Once your drawing is complete you flip the page. Carefully plucking the flower from the ground you place it on the next page of your book. You put the book back in your bag, hopefully you’ll be able to find more. Continuing your exploration, you focus your magic into your necklace.

Making sure to block out unwanted magic signatures, the necklace starts to glow and lift away from your body. Following it you find more magical flowers, some the same as the last and others of different varieties. You documented some you’ve never seen before while the extras were put into either glass containers or small pots to preserve them. The good thing about magic plants is that they won’t wilt after being picked. Making it easy for them to be stored and used later.

A gust of wind passes by, as your necklaces starts pointing at the sky. Looking up you see a flock of birds flying overhead. Stopping to watch the birds pass fly by, you notice a feather gently drifting down to the ground landing inches from your feet. It was a shiny dark green feather that feels a little warm to the touch. You’re not entirely sure what species of bird it’s from, but you decide to keep it for now. Placing it gently in your bag, you plan on researching it later.

Getting back to searching for new and interesting finds you hear a loud crash coming from the skele-bros house. Pausing to look in the direction of the house you sigh mentally, hoping they’re okay. These past couple of days have been hectic. Now that Jupiter can freely go into town, they have been making major progress on fixing up their house.

You didn’t spend a lot of time in their house, so you never noticed some of the problems on the inside. Such as; Some of the floor boards were broken or had rotting wood. Holes littered the walls, the floors, the ceiling, and the roof. There was broken windows and chipped paint on both floors and the carpet need to be replaced in certain areas. Of course, there was plumbing, pipping, and electrical issues that need to be attention. You’ve been helping in any way you could or more specifically in any way they would allow. Mainly you were limited to moving light objects, helping them pack, cleaning, and organizing some of the clutter.

Today they’re doing some heavy lifting and a lot of manual labor. They didn’t want you around in case something happened, and you end up hurt. Not that you mind, after all there’s not a lot of meat on them bones. Heavy lifting and manual labor are not your strong suit.

Refocusing your magic into the necklace again, you watch as it glows and floats away from your body. Following it you come to a berry bush about half your size. The leaves are a blueish green color and very soft to the touch. The berries are tiny and perfect spheres. They’re a lovely shade of mid-night blue. You pick one and hold it up to the sun. It turns from looking almost black to being able to see the different shades of blue. The light shining through the berry also creates a magical affect that causes white star like specs to appear in the berry. It’s like a tiny galaxy within a berry.

It’s at times like these where you wish you could eat food. Regardless you still pick a handful of berries, being sure to leave a good amount for any animals that may eat from the bush.

Putting the berries in your bag you feel your phone vibrate in your pocket. You gotta hand it to clothes, they do have some benefits; some can be as comfy as a blanket and others have pockets! It’s so much easier to pull your phone out of your pocket instead of reaching into your bag to get it.

Unlocking your phone, you see a notification from Electrify, informing you that your order was confirmed and should arrive in a couple of days. You ordered three laptops, three phones, and a book “The Beginners Guide to Mystic Knowledge”. They said you didn’t need to buy it for them, but you did anyway. That’s what they get for buying you a whole new wardrobe without your permission.

Suddenly your necklace shines brightly, out shining the light from your phone. You start running in the direction your necklace is pointing in. Hopping over fallen logs and maneuvering around trees and shrubs you come to a small cave. Slowing down, you enter the cave.

 

It’s dark.

 

You can’t see anything except for the glow from your necklace.

‘Why is this cave so dark?’ You think to yourself as you continue to go deeper, arms out stretched in front of you.

A drop of water falls from the top of the cave and lands on your sunglasses. The sudden impact scares you for a moment before sudden realization comes over you. Face palming you take your sunglasses off and clip it to the front of your shirt. Giving your eye sockets time to adjust to the slightly less dark cave, you see what your necklace was pointing at. A slightly glowing tree.

Small in stature with a round top, the leaves were a pale green while the trunk is a greyish blue color. As you approached the tree the glow from your necklace began to die down as it slowly descends back to your chest. Upon closer inspection there are yellow oval fruit hanging from the tree. You pick one noting that it looks familiar but can’t quite remember why. Shrugging you put it in your bag and continue picking a few a more. Deciding to pick one more so you don’t over pick, you notice the leaves flickering in and out of existence.

Gasping ‘These are phase fruits!’ Picking the fruit in your hand, you start jumping up and down. This is amazing! You honestly weren’t expecting to find a phase tree out here. You’ve seen the fruit sold in stores but you’ve never actual seen one in the wild. This will make a great addition to your store or maybe for Mars if he decides to become a merchant.

Excited to share your harvest with your friends you quickly make your way back to the house.

***

It was oddly quite when you reached the house. It was a bit into the afternoon so maybe they were on a lunch break or they had to leave for supplies. Trying the back door your thankful it was unlocked. Heading into the kitchen, there’s a box full of different types of fruits and vegetables on the table. Jupiter must be home then. Ever since he started working at a greenhouse on the outskirts of town, he brings home a box full of crops at least once a week. Apparently, the greenhouse used to waste a lot of food due to some of their crops being bruised, discolored, or misshapen, aka “ugly” food. Not wanting to waste any he brings the undesirable foods home with him.

You’re about to place your bag on the table when you hear talking coming from the living room. Looks like you won’t have to wait to show them! Grabbing your bag, you run into the living room. All the furniture in the living room was pushed against the wall and out of the way from the door and the stairs. Mars is sleeping in an armchair his head resting against one arm rest while his legs are draped over the other one. Dust is interpreting Ember for Jupiter as they discuss paint swatches and furniture.

They finished all the renovation on the first floor, so they wanted to redecorate it. The current furniture is old and rickety with mysterious stains, as though they got it from the dump. They were comfortable, although it didn’t provide much support. Most of the furniture wasn’t made for someone of Jupiter’s height either. Jupiter was very excited about picking out paints and furniture for the living room and kitchen. We had to call a house meeting since he seemed to be over working himself with work, fixing up house, cooking meals, and now decorating. We managed to convince him to focus on work and fixing up the rest of the house. Then after they save up a bit of money they can work on repainting and decorating the house. Although, that doesn’t stop him from picking up paint swatches and interior design magazines.

Waving your arms frantically while jumping up and down you try to get the skeletons attention. “OH Y/N, IS EVERYTHING ALL RIGHT?” Jupiter asks with an amused smile. Dust and Ember turn their attention to you while Mars cracks open an eye socket to peer in your direction. Putting a hand in your bag, you do a dramatic spin before pulling out a phase fruit.

‘Ta Daaaaaa!’ Posing proudly while holding the fruit in the air for all to see.

“it’s a fruit” Dust states, confused as to why it’s making you so excited.

Your mood drops for a split second before it picks up again. Tossing the fruit at Mars you sign “ **It’s a type of mystic fruit called a phase fruit.** ” Mars brings the fruit to his mouth ready to take a bite. Waving your arms up and down you sign wildly “ **Don’t eat it yet!** ”

With a raised bone brow “why?” He asks looking at the fruit questionably before turning his gaze towards you.

“ **It has a cool magic effect,** ” you explain while bouncing in place! “ **You see a phase fruit allows you to phase through objects, even your soul will be permeable. The effects of eating one fruit should last about four hours, so that’ll give us enough time to play a game of phase tag!** ”

Jupiter jumps up from the couch looking as giddy and excited as you feel. “THAT SOUNDS LIKE SO MUCH! I’M SURE THAT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE THE VICTOR OF THIS GAME.”

Chuckling “you’re the coolest bro.” Mars says with a proud smile on his face. “I KNOW BUT THANK YOU FOR THE COMPLEMENT.” He says posing proudly, with Dust snickering in the background. Turning to face you “SO, HOW DO WE PLAY THIS, PHASE TAG?”

“ **Follow me!** ” You wave for them to follow you as you head out the front door. Once everyone is outside you toss them each a phase fruit. “ **Okay so phase tag is just like regular tag. One person is “It” and has to try and tag another person. After you tag someone else, you’ll no longer be “It” and the person you tagged will be “It” instead. Whoever is it by the end when time runs out is the loser.** ” You finish explaining the core rules of the game.

“THAT SEEMS EASY ENOUGH THIS IS BUT A SIMPLE TASK FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

Chuckling at his enthusiasm, “ **Glad to hear it. The phase fruit lasts for four hours so if you want to play for longer, I can give you another one and it’ll last for eight hours.** ” The skeleton brothers look at each other and discuss different option. It’s late into the afternoon and a four-hour game will end right before dinner. Deciding to play a four-hour game the three skeletons start eating their phase fruit.

“ya ain’t playing?” Dust asks with a teasing grin, when he noticed you weren’t eating.

Scratching at the back of your head you idly kick some pebbles by your feet. “ **Well I still can’t eat. So, I’ll be playing just at a bit of a disadvantage** ” you explain with a nervous chuckle.

“WHAT!? THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE Y/N! HOW WILL WE JUDGE WHO THE TRUE WINNER IS IF THE PLAYING FIELD IS NOT EVEN?”

“ **You say that, but you already finished it.** ” You point to his empty hand that was a little wet from the fruit’s juices.

Staring at his hand as if he hadn’t realized he ate all of it. “I SEE YOUR POINT.” Furrowing his brown in thought. “THEN I’LL JUST HAVE TO PROVIDE YOU WITH A HANDICAP OF MY OWN NYEH HEH HEH!”

Gasping dramatically, you place a hand on your chest in a shocked fashion “ **Papyrus, that’s impossible! There’s no way you can possibly contain thine greatness.** ”

“NYEH HEH! I AM VERY GREAT BUT WORRY NOT Y/N. FOR NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” He says heroically as his scarf bellows in the wind.

“heh, you’re so cool bro.” Mars says in adoration as he starts to sink into the ground.

“THANK YOU, BROTHER…WHY ARE YOU SINKING?”

Looking down in confusion he realizes that he is in fact sinking. Before he has the time to panic you start signing while jumping. “ **The magic from the phase fruit have activated! It’s just like using regular magic, it’s the intent that’s important.** ” All the skeletons are slowly phasing to the ground at this point you can tell that some are starting to panic. Running towards them you start to phase with them.

Clapping your hands to gather their attention once more “ **I can phase through ground normally, so don’t worry. Where ever you go, I’ll follow until you get the hang of it.** ” This is why you wanted them outside. If they have trouble controlling their magic out here you can follow them and save them if need be, but if they were inside when this happened you wouldn’t be able to get them. Worst case scenario if they didn’t learn how to control it within four hours, they could have ended up stuck in the foundation of the house.

“ **Focus on the feeling of being transparent, a ghost, or the wind, and think about floating back up to the surface.** ” The skeletons did as you suggested it took them awhile, but Dust quickly got it followed by Jupiter. Mars seemed to have trouble, panic clear on his face. Being the last one and with the ground coming up to his ribs, is causing him to panic more.

He’s sweating, his red eye light was blown wide and hazy at the edges. Walking in front him you let your body drop into the ground until you were at eye socket level with Mars. Slowly sinking at the same rate, you focus your magic on him. Letting him feel your intent. Sending the feeling of calmness as well as how you feel when phasing and moving through the ground. A light floating feeling similar to floating in gentle waters. A feeling of floating in the air but with no resistance, no external force keeping you in the air no gravity trying to bring you down. Just peace and freedom.

You start going up eye sockets locked with Mars the whole time. He follows your lead, looking more relaxed slowly raising to the surface at the same speed as you. The two of you land gently on the surface, giving him a proud grin (if you could) you bring him in for a hug. Jupiter tries to join but ends up phasing through both of you. Bone rattling with laughter you take a step back from Mars, not noticing the look of admiration. “ **Now that everyone’s out of the ground, to stop phasing think of being solid. Firm. Focus on feeling the world around you and being a part it. Understand?** ” You know that this can be a little tricky to get the hang of and even harder to describe, but you believe that they can do it.

It isn’t long before they get the hang of phasing at will. You do a bit of testing having them phase through trees. Once everyone has successfully learned to control the new magic, you go over the rules of the game. One, stay in the yard or around the house. Two, magic is allowed. Three, no hiding for long periods of time, you have to keep moving. And four, they have to be solid when you tag them. If a player tags someone right when they phase, then it doesn’t count.

Now that everyone’s clear on the rules…

LET THE GAME BEGIN!

Jupiter is “It” and as soon as it was decided Mars and Dust teleported away, leaving you to fend for yourself against Jupiter. The two of you lock eye sockets, his grin slowly spreads across his face. “OH Y/N,” he calls in a singsong voice.

You run.

Running toward the tree line, not bothering to turn around because you know he’s there. Hearing his feet hammering against the ground as he closes in on you. You know it won’t take him long to catch you, his arms and legs are almost twice as long as yours.

“…He’s right b-behind you..!” Ember warns you as you run towards a tree.

‘Thanks!’ You drop into the ground right before hitting the tree. Trying to distance yourself from him, you could vaguely feel the vibration of him hitting the tree. Moving through the dirt you decide it would be better to put as much distance as possible between you and Jupiter. His long legs and arms, plus the use of his magic and the phase fruit magic put you at a huge disadvantage. He did say he would go easy on you but his definition of easy might not be the same as yours, and besides you kind of don’t want him to.

Carefully you pop your head out of the ground and observe the area. You’re in the backyard, which should be plenty of space for now. Stepping out of the ground you move to the corner of the house to see if anyone is coming.

“heya bud, whatcha lookin’ at?” Mars asked from behind you.

Jumping and spinning around you place your hand to your chest where your soul is. Thankful for once that you can’t speak, so no one can hear your startled scream…except Ember. “ **Mars! You scared the soul out of me.** ” You sign with false aggravation.

“heh, sorry about that. you lookin’ for paps.” Mars ask sounding at bit winded despite looking casual and laid back.

He must have just escape from Jupiter too, “ **Yeah he has long limbs, so I’ll need a head start if he comes over here.”** Sneaking a peak around the corner you still don’t see Jupiter anywhere. Hopefully he isn’t coming around from the other side, but Mars is behind you so maybe he’ll warn you if he does.

Mars places his hand on your shoulder causing you to jump slightly “knock knock.”

Confused you turn slightly so you can sign to him comfortably “ **Ah who’s there?** ” Now really isn’t the time of jokes.

“it.” His grin widens, turning slightly sinister.

A feeling of dread suddenly looms over you as you sign “ **It who?** ”

“it’s you. tag your it.” He says with a wink before teleporting away with a chuckle.

You are flabbergasted not only did he tag you, but he told a bad joke too! And it’s so bad you can’t help but laugh at it, now you can’t even be mad that you trusted him. Bones rattling gently, you fall to you knees and raise your fist angrily to the sky. ‘Darn you Mars!’ You yell bitterly into the sky, as you continue to wave your fists in the air.

“…Y…you know he…can’t h-hear you…right?” Ember asks with a slight chuckle, appearing seemly out of nowhere.

Turning to face him with a pout only a skeleton can have you ask, ‘Did you know he was It?’ He’s silent for a moment eye lights avoiding your eye sockets until he points toward a tree in the distance.

“Mars…is over t-there.”

Looking in the direction he’s pointing in, you notice that Mars is in fact over there. Trying to hide his laughter behind a tree. Jumping up to a standing position you point at Mars ‘YOU!’ Knowing he can’t hear you doesn’t stop you from yelling at him. Taking off in a sprint you run towards him. Mars realizes you’re running at him and right as you reach the tree, he teleports away with a wink before you can tag him. Stopping momentarily to see where he went, he teleported about five feet away. Having him in your sight you continue your pursuit with little luck.

Every time you go near him, he would teleport five feet away. Getting frustrated you stomp your feet and angrily sign “ **Can you stop teleporting for five seconds!** ” He shrugs his shoulders with his hands in his pocket. You’re not sure if he’ll teleport again or not but you decide to try one more time. Running towards him with both arms out stretched, he doesn’t teleport away, but he does phase out of the way. Causing you to comically fall on the ground with your arms out in front of you. Hearing two sets of laughter one from Mars and the other sounds like it’s coming from Dust.

“heh didn’t think ya fall for me so soon” Mars jokes.

Rolling over to look at him “ **Booo! Do better.** ” You tease, hopefully conveying that you aren’t mad you didn’t get to tag him. After a short break on the ground you get up and continue the chase, after all you only have three hours to complete the game. Whoever’s “It” when the time’s up is the loser, and despite your disadvantages you don’t want that to be you. That’s proving to be more difficult than you thought. Everyone is in the front yard, as you alternate between chasing each of them. Ember tries to help by telling you where everyone is and who’s closer to you but you’re still not having any luck tagging them.

Jupiter is always out of your reach and it takes twice as much energy to catch up to him then it does Mars or Dust. Mars seems to realize that phasing out of the way is easier and takes less energy than teleporting. You’ve been close to tagging him a couple of times, but he still manages to phase out right as your phalanges are about to touch him. Dust is simply the most annoying one. He tends to stay in the trees and teleports willy-nilly. One moment he’ll be in a tree, the next right behind you, and when you turn to tag him of course he’s back in the tree. Maybe you should have made a rule against teleporting.

“okay okay” Dust says between snickers “want me to be “it”?” He asks with his hand extended out towards you. You honestly didn’t think that he’d volunteer to be “It”, maybe Jupiter but not Dust. You move to tag his hand, happy to switch roles for once, only for you’re hand to phase to through his.

UTTER BETRAYAL.

Stomping your feet with a huff you run after to Dust. To your surprise he actually runs away with an amused chuckle, rather than teleporting away. That is until you round, the corner of the house and he teleports away with a two-finger salute. Tired you flop on your back and stare up at the sky. Ember floats into your field of vision looking concerned.

“A…are…you okay?”

‘Yeah and I have a plan. I won’t be “It” for long.’ Giving Ember a weak thumbs up you start sinking into the ground.

After a brief break you make your way over to their magic signatures. The three of them are in the same area but according to Ember, Jupiter and Mars are on the ground while Dust is sitting in the tree above them. Carefully inching your way towards them you double check with Ember making sure Jupiter is right above you. With a nod from him your arms burst out of the ground and wrap around Jupiter’s legs. You vaguely hear panic yelling and the stomping of feet. Once the stomping has calmed down you pop your head out of the ground and sign up at him “ **Tag you’re “It”!** ”

“HUH, VERY CLEAVER. VERY CLEAR INDEED.” He says with a proud smile, both him and Mars seem relived about something but since you can still be tagged again you quickly slink back into the ground and leave the area. Running away you put some distance between you and the skeleton bros. Carefully sticking your head out of the ground only revealing your eye sockets, you assess the situation. Jupiter was already going after Mars and Dust and it made your attempts at playing tag look like child’s play.

Jupiter was trying to use his bone attacks to trap or counter the Sanses. It was proven difficult since they got quicker with their phasing. Phasing through trees, brushes, the ground, and bone attacks as though it was second nature. As Mars and Dust danced around Jupiter, He started using more advance and technical attacks mixing plane white bone attack with light blue and orange bone attacks. He would throw bones of various sizes and in different patterns towards them, occasionally use a wall made of bones to cut off or slow down their escape routes. Although Jupiter was attacking them, most of his attention was on Mars.

Mars has really taken to phasing, using it more than he does teleporting. There were a few close calls were Jupiter almost tagged him but every time he phased out of the way just in time, causing Jupiter to stumble through him. On the other hand, Dust was just the opposite, he was almost constantly teleporting. Hopping around from tree to tree, barely dodging Jupiter’s attacks only to appear right beside him, and then teleport before he had a chance to tag him. You could tell Jupiter was getting irritated with the unnecessary teleporting, but the glint in his eye sockets told you he wasn’t giving up.

Jupiter began focusing his attacks on his brother using blue and orange bones along with his long limbs to his advantage. Mars is breathing heavily and is drenched in sweat. His movements were getting slower and less precise. It was Jupiter’s time to strike!

Until Mars decided to speak, that is.

“this is getting a bit _over-elming_.” Mars puns distracting his brother just enough to move out of the way. “ _thistle_ be the end of me,” he says with a breathy chuckle as he continues to move further away.

“SANS!”

“are you _oaky_ down there?” Dust ask from above, clearly amused by the situation.

“DUST!” Jupiter yells turning to face him with a disappointed stare. You could hear Ember sighing in disappointment next to you.

“yeah, i’m _pine_ ”

Spinning around to face Mars he stomps his foot in false aggravation “THIS IS NO TIME FOR PUNS SANS!”

“i _ash-ure_ you it is” Mars says as he continues to put some distance between him and his brother. Using this time to not only put some distance between them but to also take a bit of a break. Jupiter and Ember both cry out in agony, but you notice the smiles on their faces.

“think you’re _barking_ up the wrong tree” Dust supplies.

“ _wooden’t_ you know it, i think you’re right. guess i need to _branch_ out a bit” Mars continues. You couldn’t help but laugh at the display before you, you knew what Mars was trying to do and you can’t _beleaf_ it was working.

Until it wasn’t.

Jupiter finally had enough of their bad puns and charged at his brother. He quickly closed the distance Mars created and summoned various bone attacks. Mars managed to dodge but he was still tired from earlier. Jupiter was moving faster now, not giving him the chance to distract him with puns. He started anticipating where Mars was going to teleport to, and it wasn’t long before Jupiter finally tagged him.

“THERE! TAG YOU’RE IT BROTHER.” Jupiter yells with a dramatic flare before quickly running away.

“heh, _needless_ to say that could’ve gone better” Mars says before teleporting away.

You’re not sure if the two Sanses were in cahoots with each other but Mars easily tagged Dust before flopping on the branch and falling asleep. Dust suddenly appeared behind Jupiter and tagged him before you or Jupiter could really process what happened.

“REALLY!?” Jupiter yells in disbelief.

“ _yew_ know I can’t resist” Dust says with a smug smile, standing on a branch as he leans against tree trunk.

‘That was a bit _shady_.’ Ember looked at you with a mixture of horror and shame, seems like he wasn’t expecting you to join in on the punfest. Emotion drains from Jupiter’s face as he inhales deeply bring his hands together in front of his face. He exhales as he opens eyes and points his hands towards Dust “NO.” He says in the most “I’m done” tone of voice, before walking away.

“heh come on paps don’t be a _stick in the mud_. these are some _qualitree_ puns here, i _guarantree_ it.”

“ENOUGH! I’M OF _SYCAMORE_ THESE PUNS NYEH HEH HEH!”

Gasping you cover your mouth with your hands, surprised that Jupiter actually made a pun and a clever one at that. Even Ember was snickering to himself, you give him a knowing look causing him to blush and look away with a ghostly pout.

“…Look O…out!” Ember suddenly yells pointing in front of you. Looking in the direction he’s pointing in you see Jupiter running towards you. The shock of it pops you out of the ground and you start running in the opposite direction. “…Left” Ember calls out from besides you. Following his order without question you turn left. Out of your peripheral vision you see a wall of white bones shoot out of the ground.

“Right…”

“…Left…”

“…Left…Left” Jupiter started to change up his game going from putting up plane bone walls to L-shaped, S-shaped, Z-shape, and T-shapes bones walls. The walls start appearing faster than the last and it was getting harder to keep up. Jupiter left the bone walls you already past up making it hard to get an accurate read on his magic signature, when it was everywhere. Ember was having trouble giving you direction when the bone walls were appearing faster than he could talk. “W…watch out..!” Ember says from beyond your shoulder, a bone wall appears in front of you. Dropping into the ground as though you fell through a hole you continue running.

To your dismay Jupiter phased through the ground just as fast and set bone walls running parallel of you. Surrounded on both sides by bone, Ember suggests going to the surface. You hesitate, noticing that you’re slightly faster than him when moving through the ground, but now that Jupiter has master phasing going deeper won’t help you much. Plus, you’ve been playing for a while, it shouldn’t be long until the fruit’s magic wears off and they should probably be up top when that happens.

A bone wall appears in the distance boxing you in. Before you reach the wall, you jump up to the surface, only to realize the bones wall extends to the surface. Turning around Jupiter slowly walks toward you, legs still emerged in the ground. A proud smile graces his skull, the smile of a player who just won a game or a hunter that caught a difficult prey. As he comes to a stop in front of you, you catch the challenge in his eyes. He’s waiting to see what you’ll do next.

“NYEH HEH HEH! YOU HAVE BEEN CAUGHT BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS, BUT I MUST ADMIT YOU PUT DID UP A VALIANT CHASE.” Jupiter says while posing proudly.

“ **I’m not done yet.** ” Sprinting forward you run towards Jupiter. You can hear Ember warning you from behind as Jupiter readies himself for your attack. Just outside out his reach you stomp on the ground before jumping to the side. Bouncing of the wall you jump to the other wall and back, until you reach the top. As soon as your talus touches the top of the bone wall, you dash away.

“NYEH!?” Jupiter is shocked as he turns around but only for a moment. “I SEE YOU STILL HAD SOME TRICKS UP YOUR SLEEVES, BUT SO DO I!” His arm is outstretched in your direction before he clenches his fist close, causing the bones under your feet to retreat. Falling to the ground face first your disoriented for a moment, you slowly lift yourself off the ground. However, that’s all Jupiter needs in order to tag you. “TAG YOUR IT!” Jupiter says after tagging your back with enough force to push you back to the ground, before running off.

From your position on the ground you sign “ **Ah man.** ”

Ember floats next to you with a chuckle “…Come on…we s-still have time…”

With a huff you agree with Ember, it’s time for one last stand.

……………………

……………

………

……

…

Or it would’ve been if you could tag someone. You’ve been playing for about four hours now. Jupiter and Dust have limited their phasing probably because they can feel the fruit’s magic wearing off. Honestly if you used some of your magic items in your bag it would be a lot easier tag them, but you don’t want to waste your inventory…or freak them out.

“hey i’ll be “it” if ya want.” Dust volunteers, teleporting right besides you. You give him a skeptical look (if you could) but accept his offer, you aren’t getting anywhere with cashing after them. You reach out to tag Dust, but he phases right as you touch him. You had a hunch he was going to do that, but you wanted to try anyway. “heh heh heh sorry, sorry for real this time.” Dust says standing still this time, not that it makes much of a difference. Reaching out again you try to tag him, but he teleports a few feet away. Clenching your fists, you bring your arms down by your side in frustration, hoping he picks up on your glares.

He doesn’t, that or he ignores your frustration in favor of laughing at you. Tired of his shenanigans you chase him angrily while waving your fist in the air. Snickering Dust runs away from you with his hands in his jacket’s pockets. It isn’t long before your chase is interrupted by Mars.

“hey, tag me i’ll be “it”.” Turning around you look at Mars he’s in a different tree lounging on a branch just within your reach. You look from Mars to Dust and back to Mars again, before accepting his offer. It’s not like you have anything to lose even if he teleports out of the way. Once you’re standing under Mars you jump to tag his dangling arm.

Successfully tagging him you sign “ **Tag your “It”!** ”

“great, thanks pal.” You consider running away but there’s no indication of him moving anytime soon.

“SANS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

“napping.”

“THIS IS NO TIME FOR NAPPING! TIME’S ALMOST UP IF YOU DON’T TAG SOMEONE SOON, YOU’LL LOSE!” Jupiter explained.

Mars slips from the tree branch and land on the bush bellow with a soft thump. “nah i’m _bushed_.” Mars says with a lazy chuckle.

“SANS!!” Jupiter says with a playful tone, you can hear the chuckle enter his voice.

“looks like that’s game.” Dust says walking up to the group.

“ **You guys can’t phase anymore.** ” You ask just to make sure. Mars and Dust shake their heads no, while Jupiter seems to ponder this notion.

“I BELIVE THAT IS CORRECT Y/N.”

“ **Then I guess Mars is the loser.** ” Flopping on Mars, you trap him in a hug, pulling back briefly to sign “ **Thank you!** ” before continuing your hug. You feel him tense before relaxing and returning your hug. When he didn’t release his grip, you tried to escape the hug only to realize that he was having none of it. You started flailing about since you couldn’t sign to him in this position. Suddenly you feel another weight on you, cranking your neck to see who it is.

Dust is laying on top of you and winks when your eye sockets connect. You wiggle some more now _sanswiched_ between two Sanses. They chuckle at your misfortune causing a shiver to run down your spine from how close their voices are to your skull.

Without warning your bush group was picked up in a tight hug and is being twirled around by Jupiter. “YOU CAN’T HAVE GROUP HUG WITHOUT THE GREAT PAPYRUS.” He exclaims as he holds you all closer.

Ember floats up and joins the hug fest by hugging you and Dust “…Nor me…” He adds. The tree of you chuckle at the Papyri’s antics, even if Mars and Jupiter can’t see Ember.

It really isn’t a group hug without The Great Papyrus, no matter his form.

Suddenly your group is dropped “EW, SANS YOUR OOZING MYSTERIOUS SLIME AGAIN.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Next chapter another pair of skeleton brothers will appear! I know a few of you were waiting for them, any guesses on who they next pair will be? Also next week I'll be posting a "what could have been" chapter on my tumblr. This chapter took a very unexpected turn that wasn't what I originally planned. Instead of completely scrapping it I've decided to post it on tumblr, so hopefully that'll tie you over til the next chapter. Which will come out in March!
> 
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/pumpkinflash
> 
> I also set up a Ko-fi if you can and want to please support me! Note: I literally just made it so it's pretty bland and boring looking but I'll fix it later.
> 
> https://ko-fi.com/Q5Q3QOAV


	8. Surprise Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This really isn't what you wanted to happen today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited chapter 2! it's just a light no need to reread unless you really want to. There's a poll down in the end notes, so please check it out!! Happy reading :]

Waking up your body feels heavy and stiff. You try moving around a bit, but you feel exhausted and sore all over. Bones gently clanking together as a shiver rips through, you consider getting up. Getting up you break through the surface and look around. It’s early morning and far too early for you to be awake. Stretching your bones, you glance around the yard. Taking note that you’re in the front yard, standing up you crack your spin before waking up underground again.

Your vision is blurry, and your skull is foggy with sleep. You must have dreamed about getting up instead of actually getting up. Thinking about getting up but being too tired to do so, you continue to stare at the dirt above you. Your vision going in and out of focus as you battle to stay awake. Finally deciding to get up you slowly break the surface. Sitting in the ground you think about finding a better spot to sleep. Maybe the couch or the guest bedroom, heck maybe even another section of the earth. Just someplace where you can get some proper rest.

Twitching within the ground you notice that you’re back underground as you sleepily look around. Disoriented and confused you move your sore stiff bones. Shuddering as your bone clank together you gently crack your knuckles. Not really feeling like moving you slowly reach forward so one arm breaks the surface. At an excruciatingly slow pace you scrap and drag your torso up to the surface. Your arms were first to break free followed by your shoulders, head and then ribs. Your magic is buzzing in your skull as you faintly hear something drop in the distance.

The dirt is filtering off your bones and out of you and your clothes. Your body feels so sluggish and heavy. It must have been from all the running yesterday. ‘This is why your stretch and do warm ups before a workout’ you think bitterly to yourself as you wait for the sleep to leave you. A familiar yet unfamiliar magic fills the area as you hear muffled footsteps on the grass. Vision still blurry from sleep you look in the direction the noise is coming from.

There were plastic bags full of groceries on the ground. The contents spilt and scattered across the grass. In front of the spilt groceries is a skeleton in knee high, high-heeled boots. His outfit was black and burgundy, and his sockets were devoid of all light. Staring blankly at the skeleton the magic in the air becomes threatening, it feels suffocating. Shoulder tensing, your own magic starts buzzing louder in your skull. White sharpened bones appear in the air, before raining down upon you. Quickly, you dodge roll out of the way. Leaving you with nicks and cuts along your arms and legs. Hearing him tsks under his breath you dash off into the nearby woods. Magic pumping through your bones you run blindly through the forest. The skeleton’s footsteps echoing behind you as he yells for you to stop!

Don’t stop.

Running faster your magic is trying to calm you but your mind is too frazzled. Frantically you maneuver around trees and over bushes. Body is on autopilot as you take the paths covered with twigs, rocks, roots, tiny holes, and uneven terrain. All in the hopes that he’ll trip in those heels of his.

It doesn’t work.

You scold yourself about leaving the ground, when it probably would have been safer to remain hidden within it. Bones rush past your skull as you continue to run deeper into the forest. There’s a slight tugging sensation in your ribs as he tries to bring your soul out for an encounter. Panicking you try to shake off his magic and run deeper into the forest. You’ve never been in an encounter with a monster and you’d rather not start now. And why would he need your soul out for an encounter anyway?

He didn’t seem please with this outcome as he begins throwing more bone attacks at you. “THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM THE MALEFICENT BLACK, VILE CREATURE!” he yells from behind, it almost sounds like he stopped to pose as his footsteps pause for a moment.

 

**_You just need a place to think._ **

 

Your vision is starting to get fuzzy around the edges, joints begin to ache as you continue to push forward. His attacks have started to get more complicated as he throws bones at you from multiple angels. Creating bone walls to divert your path. These were so much easier to dodge when the Ember was there to tell you where to go. Body still on autopilot, you continued to dodge, trip, and stumble through the forest. Despite his constant attacks you managed to avoid any direct attacks from him but the amount of nicks, cuts, and scraps is probably enough to bring your HP down a notch.

“YOUR PATHETIC ATTEMPTS AT FLEEING IS ONLY STALLING THE INEVITABLE!” He yells from behind you.

‘What is his plan? Why is he trying to kill you? Did you do something wrong?’ You continue running barely avoiding his attacks and not even registering that his have decreased. Running through traps and puzzles, purposely setting off some while avoiding others at the last second. Hoping he’ll trip up and get caught in one of them.

‘why hasn’t he caught up yet? Why hasn’t he hit you yet?’

Magic spazzing around you, pumping so hard through you bones that your skull starts throbbing, or is that your panicked mind. You can’t focus on anything! ‘Where are you? None of this looks familiar! The magic signature on these traps don’t match up. I don’t recognize some of these traps. Did Jupiter put up some more traps without telling me?’ Vision flicking in and out, like a light bulb about to go out, you continue running. Your tired, your magic won’t calm down. You won’t calm down! Can’t think.

Your joint hurt and keep stalling, your bones are aching, and you just want this to end. Looking back, he is staring at you with the eyes of a predator. His sockets hold burgundy eye lights that are trained on you. He’s not even looking at the traps or his surrounding, yet he avoids them with ease. As if he already knows the lay of the land. He’s calm as he approaches you. Strides even and perfectly paced as he walks along the uneven turf with an air of superiority. It’s as though the very forest is bowing down to him. His smile is smug like a cat playing with his prey before he pounces.

‘This was supposed to be **your** plan! You were supposed to lure **him** here, getting **him** caught in a trap! How is he keeping up with you if he’s walking!? **Are you running?** ’

You don’t know your body is moving but you don’t feel it anymore. All you can feel is your magic pulsing through your bones and the ground under your feet.

THE GROUND!

Realizing your mistake from earlier you drop into the ground at the speed of gravity. Maybe now you’ll be able to calm down and properly think about your situation. Maybe you should take a calming potion to help calm you. Your magic going crazy is only wasting your energy. Attempting to stretch your bones to help calm you down you sense a buildup of magical energy around you. A wave of fear washes over you as you forcibly shoot yourself out of the ground. Repealing yourself from the ground, you watch the area you just occupied fill with sharp and jagged bones. All pointing out in different angles, like someone created a spike pit and filled it with dirt.

On the surface your feet haven’t touched the ground yet, but your body is turned to face him. He’s only a few inches away, looking mildly impressed that you escaped his spike pit.

‘Gum Gum Explosion!’

The familiar tug on your soul happens again as he tries to bring you into an encounter, only to be halted by a soft squishy pink blob, landing on his chest. He looks down in confusion at the blob before lifting his gaze back to your retreating form. His expression is a mixture of confusion, disgust, and annoyance. As he opens his mouth to yell at you the substance or the GGE explodes, trapping him in a bubblegum jelly like substance.

You stop backing away for a moment to make sure he’s encased in the GGE. Finally, you have a chance to calm down. The GGE isn’t that strong so it probably won’t hold him for long, but you should at least be able to distance yourself from him. Allowing you the time to clear your head and get your bearings. Your magic starts to slow its pace as it tries to get back to its normal pulse. Taking a step back a bone whizzes past your head, just grazing your cheekbone. Another skeleton appears in the treetops above the GGE. This one is taller than the other one. His right eye socket is glowing a rich blood orange, as he summons a dragon skull. Your magic pulse quickens and panic courses through your bones once again. Stumbling over your feet you blindly run away.

‘HELP!’

Your magic is running rampant as it tries to fight your panic. You hear what sounds like the charge of a laser before it goes off and blasts a nearby tree. The heat resonating off it and the smell of ashes drives you forward.

You cry out for help over and over again. ‘HELP! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!’ The skeleton is teleporting around in the trees above you. sending down bone attacks and shooting lasers at you while you clumsily dodge out of the way. Praying that someone hears you! That someone will help you! Your mind is racing with thoughts on how to handle the situation. Remembering what you learned and experienced from playing phase tag with the brothers, all the magical items in your bag, the traps and puzzles in the area.

The area around you starts to look familiar but it doesn’t register. There’s a voice calling out to you in your head, but you don’t register it. Stuck in a loop while crying out for help, you’re panicking while your magic tries to calm you. You’re trying to take the reins of the situation, but all you can focus on is not dying.

 

‘ **I don’t want to die.** ’

 

There’s a shift in magic off to your right, chancing a glance you spot the skeleton brothers.

 

But it doesn’t register.

 

Running your panicked eye sockets meet Jupiter’s worried ones as time slows. It feels like your running in slow motion as you feel a tug on your soul. Voices sound out around you, but you can’t make any of it out. Jupiter’s arm is outstretched, mouth moving as though he’s yells in slow motion.

 

But you hear nothing.

 

Your feet slowly touch the ground as a click resounds around you. Eye sockets still locked with Jupiter’s, his expression shifts from concerned to horror as he watches you. A sudden weight slams against the side of your head. Skull pounding as the sound of bones cracking, echo throughout your skull.

 

 

 

 _Everything_ **_slowly fades to_** **black**.  

 

 

* * *

 Notes:

...oops. Looks like its time for a reset.

Thanks for reading! Please feel free to comment, I enjoy reading what you guys have to say!

If you want to help support me feel free to buy me a cup of [tea](https://ko-fi.com/tea_cup) here! And if you want to see more exciting and random stuff check out my [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/pumpkinflash) here!

In other news, I haven't decided on who you're going to end up with yet. Aaaand who better to decide than you guys! The Reader! So, down below is a link to a poll pick how many skele-baes you want and leave who you would specifically like to end up with in the comments below. 

[To the Poll!](https://www.poll-maker.com/poll2281037x613be10a-65)

 

See ya in April! :)

 


	9. Who Are You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You feel special but also really tired. Today just isn't a good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading and taking part in the poll! I was really surprised by the sheer amount of people that voted. And without further ado, the Winner of the poll iiiiisssssss...!  
>  "Honestly I'd Rather Not Date Any Of Them!"  
> ...  
> ...so...um...guess this is going to be filled with heartbreak and platonic relationships.   
>  Please enjoy the chapter!

Ember and Dust are sitting on the couch going over furniture options and paint swatches, much too Dust’s annoyance. He likes seeing his bro happy, but it didn’t make this any less boring. Mars was on the other end of couch taking a nap while waiting for Jupiter to come back from his daily routine...or for Y/N to wake up.

 

‘HELP!’

 

A loud scream broke through the air causing Ember to flinch as he looked around. Dust raises a bone brow at him in question, but Ember continues to look around with a concern expression.

“Y…Y/N…w…where…are you? W-what’s going…on?” He asks hoping to get a response and that it’s not too serious. Hearing Ember’s half of the conversation Dust becomes more alert, getting a bad feeling in his soul. Mar seems to sense it too as he opens a socket to look at Dust.

‘HELP SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!’ Y/N cries out to anyone who can hear her. Pain and panic clear in her voice as repeated cries for help fill the air. Ember quickly turns to Dust expression filled with fear and concern.

“Y/N Is…In T…Trouble!” Ember says as quickly as he can.

“where is she?” Dust demands in a cold voice. Ember tries to call out to you but all he hears is a desperate cry for help. Mars knows Dust isn’t talking to him. He does this from time to time, talking to someone that isn’t there. But this is different, something’s not right.

Mars sits up about to ask what’s going on when Jupiter kicks the front door open.

He’s carrying bags of groceries, “BROTHER! I FOUND THESE GROCERIES SCATTERED ABOUT THE YARD. DID BLACK STOP BY?” Mars and Dust stared at Jupiter and his arms full of groceries. “A-AND WHERE IS Y/N?” Jupiter asks not liking the tense atmosphere and sudden sense of danger in the air.

“…Sans…” Ember states in a calm and knowing way. Doing a quick scan, Dust finds your soul signature a few meters within the forest being chased by two other that belong to Black and Mutt. He teleports to Mars, then Jupiter grabbing both by the arm before teleporting to you. All while Ember is yelling your name trying to reassure you that they’re coming. They arrive in a small clearing, the first thing they notice is your sound. Instead of your bones making their usual xylophone sounds, a soft and soothing lullaby. It’s now a dry, hollow, piercing, rattling sound. The slow and precise song now holds a dark, hollow, wooden, echoing effect that crashes with the sound of your soul. The once beautiful harmony is now a blaring dissonance that’s painful to hear. What used to be a harmony of the xylophone and wind chimes is now a loud, sloppy, and out of sync mess of a song.

Focusing on you, your soul is beating fast and dimmed from fear. Clothes torn and tattered with bone marrow and dirt staining it. You look like you’re seconds away from falling down, you continue to push forward but your body is stalling and jerking. Jupiter eye socket lock onto yours. He never realized just how much emotion those empty sockets could hold. The vacancy held in your eye sockets is more disturbing than when Sans extinguishes his eye lights. He watches you run trying to ignore the soul crushing sound coming from you. Your aura is dark and muddy, muted colors mixed with deep greys and blacks. Pulling himself together he moves to help you when he notices _**where**_ you’re running to.

 

One of his traps.

 

Reaching out he calls your name. Trying to warn you before you step on the switch. But you don’t react. It’s like you’re on auto-pilot just an empty husk moving without registering anything. Eye sockets still lock on one another, you step on the switch. Releasing the trunk of a tree which was concealed in the canopy of the trees above you. The trunk swings down and hits you square in the side of your skull, with a sickening cracking sound. Your skull goes flying until it hits a nearby tree. Dropping to the ground, slowly your skull rolls to a stop. Your body falls to ground, laying there limp and lifeless.

 

Everything’s quiet.

 

The constant songs from your bones and soul have been silenced. Even your aura is gone.

Dust’s grin widens turning sinister and unhinged as his left eye socket glows brighter and emits a purple magic haze. Mars’ eye sockets are devoid of light as he stares at you. At your decapitated skull. Memories of Papyrus’ skull laying in the snow moments before turning into dust flashes before his eyes, as the images begin to overlap. Grinding his teeth his left eye socket ignites, a deranged smile spreads across his face. Jupiter stares at your fallen body with a blank expression as though all emotion have been drained from his body.

Black approaches your body with a triumphant look “MWAHAHAHA GOOD RIDDANCE-” a sharpened bone is thrown at Black as Jupiter slowly turns to face him. Orange tears trailing down his face as his right sockets ignites with light orange magic. His expression vacant and emotionless, the true face of death.

 

 

**die**.

 

 

***

Regaining consciousness, you hear someone softly calling your name. It sounds like they’re crying. Your try to move your skull to look around but an instant pain fills your skull. There’s a faint ringing sound in the back of your skull as it throbs in pain. Your vision is blurry, but you manage to make out Ember’s form before you.

‘Ember?’ You ask tired and confused. He perks up at the sound of your voice. Floating just a touch closer he calls out to you.

“Y-Y/N? A…are y-you…o…kay?” He asks cautiously. Vision clearing leaving only the edges fuzzy. Ember is floating just above you, ghostly cheekbones stained with faint grey-ish orange tears. You want to reach up and wipe away the tears until you realize he’s a ghost and it wouldn’t work…belatedly you realized you aren’t attached to your body!

You’re about to start panicking when Ember speaks again “…Y/N?”

Looking at Ember you focus solely on him, calming down a bit as you remember what happened earlier. ‘I’m…alive at least.’ He seems relieved at that but not fully appeased, not that you can blame him your pretty beat up. In the distance you can hear yelling and feel spikes of magical energy, just outside your field of vision.

Giving you a ghostly nuzzle to the forehead he sighs, “I’m glad…y…you’re…alive…”

Sighing, ‘Me too.’ Although the large amounts of magical energy being released nearby is very concerning. Trying to locate your body with magic, is proven difficult with the amount of magical energy in the area. Usually this wouldn’t be a problem but in your weaken state and the pain in your skull, focusing on a particular signature is increasingly difficult. Feeling your body twitching where it lays, you notice how sore and exhausted your body is. Running away and almost dying really did a number on you, not to mention that last attack knocked your head clean off. If there was even a fraction of ill intent in that attack, then you would have died. ‘Do…do you know where my body is? I could really use some healing.’

He looks away dejectedly for a moment, “…I…c-can’t… h…heal…in t…this state…” Sadness crossing through you at his dejected look and defeated tone.

‘Yeah, I can’t heal either.’ He looks at you in shock, ‘But I do have some healing items in my bag that’ll fix me right up!’ His face lights up at the new knowledge as he looks over your skull and towards what you assume to be your body. He nods to himself when he sees that your body does in fact have your bag.

“…W-what…do we…do?” He asks with renewed confidence.

‘Well I have enough magic to bring my body over here, I’m just having a bit of trouble sensing where it is. If you could fly over to it and help me guide it back that would be great.’ With a decisive nod he flies over to your body. Even with Ember hovering near your body, it didn’t help with you sensing it. However, it did allow you to send your magic to the general area of where your body is. Ember gives out commands; being mindful of things like dips, holes, and debris from the ongoing battle. Helping to reunite you with your body. You’re thankful that none of them seem to notice a headless walking skeleton, that could’ve been bad.

Once your body reaches your skull it collapses next to you. Your body is holding on by a string and you aren’t looking forward to being reconnected to it. After all reconnecting will mean feeling the bulk of what your body is experiencing, rather than a dull down sense of it. However, you need to heal your body. Carefully you pick up your skull and align it with your body, checking with Ember to make sure it was facing the right way. With a soft click your head was back in place as a rush of pain flooded through you. Death seems like sweet relief now, if only people didn’t care about you.

Reaching into your bag you call forth some healing powder. Bringing your hand and the healing powder out of the bag, dumping a large amount onto your face and startling Ember. The powder quickly moves to cover your whole body absorbing into your bones. Laying there for a few second you feel some of your fatigue fading and the soreness lifting from your bones. The aches and stings also disappearing from your body and the crack in your skull disappears.

 

Your HP is fully restored.

 

“…Are…you…okay…n…now?” He asks curiously from above you.

With a nod you slowly start to sit up, ‘Better.’ You state simply. You weren’t in pain, but you did feel hungry and a little fatigue, probably due to the poor sleep you had last night. The bone lotion in your bag will help replenish some nutrients and a bit of energy. Sitting up fully now you look off to the side towards the area with high magic concentration. Only to not see much, since the area is cover in darkness with a few flashes of blue, orange, and white. Within the darkness you can barely see the outlines of Mars, Jupiter, and Dust on one side with the two skeletons who attacked you on the other.

‘Aww, did you guys come to save?’

Ember floats up besides you with a reassuring smile. “Of…course…we d…did!” That actually makes you feel special. Not many skeletons are willing jump into battle to save a fellow skelli.

‘Aw thanks guys!’ Looking into the darkness you think about how to handle this situation. Your friends are fighting to protect you and you were attacked by two monster skeletons, but you don’t know why. After thinking for bit you decide that you’re just tired. You really don’t feel like dealing with this or possible death. ‘We should probably end this fight before someone dies.’ Slowly standing up, Ember nods in agreement until you start heading towards the encounter.

Looking concerned Ember catches up to you. “D…do…you h-have…a…p…plan?”

‘Yup!’ Not really, honestly you don’t feel like doing anything today. Today’s just...a bad day...a really bad day. Maybe you can convince Dust to teleport everyone back home, that would be easiest option. Walking into the darkness you hear Dust chuckling, its cold and empty.

“you really think that’ll stop me.” Dust states smugly with a wicked smile. Hands in his pockets spiked bones appear around him. He’s about to strike when a bright beige light shines through the darkness.

 

Standing in the darkness is you with your glowing beige soul lighting up the area around you.

 

Cupping your soul gently, ‘Hey, you aren’t supposed to be out here,’ you say with fondness in your voice. Just as quickly as your soul was brought out it was gone. Your soul retreating back into your body as the darkness around you slowly dissipates. You’re about to sign to them asking what’s going on when Dust appears in front you, with a hard to read expression. He quickly grabs you and proceeds to teleport to Mars and Jupiter before teleporting back home. You appear in the living room the of the skele-bros house. Everyone let's go of Dusts but no one moves away from you. Looking at everyone, multiple emotions pass through their expression. They have many questions but don’t know where to start.

‘Do you guys want to talk about it on the couch?’ You suggest with a reassuring aura. Snapping them out of their thoughts Jupiter quickly scoops you up and carries you over to the couch. Being extra gently with you as if you were made of glass. He looks guilty with a hint of nervousness as he lowers you on to the couch. Shortly after Mars comes over and starts inspecting you. He gently moves your arms and phalanges, bending them to make sure they’re okay. before moving on to do the same thing with your legs. Next, he gently examines your skull before performing a check on your soul. Even after his through check and asking if you’re okay, he still seems concerned that you might be in pain.

Despite the situation you can’t help but let out a small chuckle at the fluster skeletons. It’s really rare to see a skeleton caring this much for another skelli’s wellbeing, especially after a fight. Reaching into your bag you pull out another health potion and offer it to Mars. He’s sweating buckets and his clothes are littered in cuts. He doesn’t take the potions insisting that you save it for yourself.

 

So, you throw it on him.

 

He looks confused for a moment, but his expression soon goes to one of understanding as the magic starts working. Once he’s all healed up he sits beside you. Grabbing your hand and interlocking his fingers, he gives your hand a gently squeeze. You do the same figuring he must need some reassurance that you're actually hear and that you’re alive.

“how are you alive.” Dust demands with tension in his voice. Mars glares at Dust as he squeezes your hand tighter, while Jupiter flinches harshly at his words.

Tilting your head, you answer his question, “ **Our bones can separate, or we can disconnect our bones at will. Of course, if there’s enough outside force it can forcibly disconnect our bones as well, like what you guys saw earlier.** ” That was really hard to sign with one hand but based on how hard Mars is gripping your hand, you don’t think you’ll be getting that back for a while. Sighing, you gently rub your thumb against the back of his hand, happy that he loosened his grip a touch.

Dust looks like he wants to ask more question, but you cut him off “ **I know it isn’t exactly night time but how about we have a movie night?** ” Looking around the room everyone is looking at you like you’ve grown a second head. Maybe they thought you’d be more freaked out about this then you are? “ **Guys, listen I know today got off to kind of hectic, and emotions are high right now. But I don’t think anyone is in the mood for this right now. Or murder!** ” You emphasize the murder part towards Dust who is currently heading towards the door.

“i do.” He says before moving towards the door again. Ember tells him to look at you, while you wait to sign to him. Finally, he looks at you with bored, emotionless eye lights.

“ **Please don’t murder today. Everyone’s tired and I just wants to rest. If you murder those two won’t those “others” come looking for you. I really just don’t want to deal with that drama or anything today.”**

 

“ **…Please?** ”

 

Dust stares at you for a long moment, various emotions pass through his face as he has an internal battle with himself…and possibly Ember. With a resigned huff, he mumbles something under his breath and sits in one of the armchairs. Jupiter who has been standing nervously in the middle of the living room, volunteers to cook lunch and runs off into the kitchen. Mars moves to lay down across the couch and pulls you along with him. Causing your head to rest against his chest, he rubs soothing circles on your back with one hand while still holding the other.

It’s weird feeling a skeleton’s ribs rise and fall with their breathing, but it’s oddly relaxing. His magic plus is very faint, you barely notice it. Listening for the sound of his soul you barely manage to pick it up. It sounds like a soft slow blues piece played on the cello, but it’s weird. Every so often the music stops. Not intentional rests in a song, or in a broken record way or in the way someone might pause a song only to unpausing it kind of way.

 

No. This was like, an incomplete song.

 

A song with various parts missing, like someone erased parts of the song at random. Despite the missing bits of his song it still sounds beautiful. Letting the pleasant song of his soul wash over you, you can’t help but think about your friends and the lingering tension in the air. Hopefully things will get better as the day progressives.

***

Y/N

LV 1

HP 3

ATK 2

DEF 0

_Your friendly mystic skeleton! Please don’t attack the skeleton!_

 

Black is in his room laying on his bed as he stares up at the ceiling. He managed to check your soul before you were teleported away. “Y/N…” he whispers your name as he remembers the encounter. He thought you were dead, yet you walk into the encounter without a care in the world. All the damage he had done previously all gone, one wouldn’t know you were injured if it wasn’t for your destroyed clothes. And you soul.

An inverted beige soul. He’s never seen a beige soul before, didn’t even know that was possible. And it shined so brightly, beating out a pleasant harmony of the xylophone and wind chimes. It was so calming, and soothing compared to the horrid nose it was making earlier. Does it always sound like that? Do you always emit calm and peaceful waves? Is that why they seem so bent on protecting you? A mystic skeleton? He thought you were a reanimated corpus bent on consuming the living, but now…he doesn’t know what to think.

 

WHO ARE YOU, Y/N?

 

 

\-------------------

Note: 

Once again thanks for reading the chapter and feel free to leave a comment or question down below. I enjoy reading what you guys have to say! In other news APRIL FOOLS! The **true** winner of the poll is "All 13," by a land slide of 110 votes!! so congratulations to you guys. In other, other news, for the first time ever...

I'm opening up commissions!

So if you got a story with someone from undertale or deltarune that you want to see or don't feel like writing yourself then message (on tumblr) or email me and I might write it for you! If you're interested please check out my tumblr for more details.

Email: karawilson95@gmail.com

[Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/pumpkinflash)

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See ya in May


	10. Rest Please?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're still tired and you still don't feel like doing anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Thank you guys so much for all the kudos, bookmarks, and lovely comments :) I hope you enjoy the chapter!

The smell of food wafts into the living room, signaling that lunch is almost ready. You’re laying on Mars, with your vision off, enjoying the sound of his soul and the movement on his ribs. It’s soothing and you feel super relax, nuzzling into his chest and finding comfort in his warmth. You feel his arm tighten around your ribs as he nuzzles into the top of your skull causing a soft shudder to shake your form. Simply enjoying the peaceful moment.

“LUNCH IS READY!” Jupiter yells from the doorway of the kitchen.

I guess the quiet moment can’t last forever, not that you’re really mad though. Jupiter comes around the couch and quickly gives Dust his plate before coming over to you and Mars. Mars gently pats your back signaling you to get up and reluctantly you do. Sitting up just enough for him to get into a comfortable sitting position, once he’s situated with his plate and ketchup you lay back down. Your head resting in his lap as the rest of you is curled on the couch leaving just enough space for Jupiter to join you. Mars’ lap is surprisingly comfortable with a weird cushion between his bones and his clothes, like he has some sort of magical flesh in there.

Jupiter stares at the spot near your feet. He shifts awkwardly looking a little nervous. You move your hand to sign, “ **Jupiter?** ”

“I-I’LL GO PICK OUT THE MOVIE FOR US TO WATCH!?” Jupiter says suddenly, quickly placing the food down, he rushes to a box in the corner to pick out a video to watch. After a few moments of searching he comes back with a movie and pops it into the VCR. Once the movie is setup and ready for us to watch he sits down on the floor in front of the couch.

Still curled on the couch you glance at Jupiter on the floor. Seeing as he made himself comfortable, you decide to stretch all the way out to cover the rest of the couch. Turning your gaze to the TV, you nuzzle a bit more into Mars’ lap, feeling him tense a bit before relaxing once again. They don’t have a wide selection of movies, so you ended up watching a lot of the movies you watched about three days ago. You end up zoning out a lot during the movie. Slipping in and out of sleep while Mars makes occasional comments about the movie and Dust is mumbling to Ember.

As the movie comes to an end you extend your arms and legs to stretch them out similar to a cat. Slowly moving to a sitting potion, being careful not to hit Jupiter, as your vision clears from sleep. Jupiter looks lost in thought, as he stares aimlessly at the TV. Placing a hand on his shoulder to get his attention he jolts in surprise.

“OH, Y/N! WASN’T THAT A LOVELY MOVIE? METTATON TRULY IS A TALENTED INDIVIDUAL.” Lifting your hands to sign, Jupiter cuts you off “I’M GOING TO GO DO THE DISHES AND START PREPARING FOR DINNER.” He says louder than usual. He frantically goes about collecting the plates and empty ketchup bottles. Being mindful of his movements whenever he comes near you before he heads to the kitchen. Stopping at the doorway of the kitchen he turns to you with a wobbly smile “YOU MAY PICK OUT ANOTHER MOVIE IF YOU WISH.”

Tilting your head slightly in confusion you sign “ **No, I think I’ll take a shower and get cleaned up.** ” Looking down at your tattered and dirty clothes, seeing some areas stained with bone marrow and bits of magic.

Looking a little relieved, Jupiter’s shoulders start to sag. “THAT’S A WONDERFUL IDEA! TAKE AS LONG AS YOU NEED.” He turns and rushes into the kitchen.

Turning you start heading to the stairs when Mars grabs you by the wrist. “where are you going?”

“ **I’m going to take a shower.** ” You state pointing to the second floor. His grip increases slightly as he stands up beside you, pulling you closer to him. 

“i’m coming too.” He demands, staring into your eye sockets with concern and determination.

“ **You…want to take a shower with me?** ” You ask for clarification with one hand.

Mars stares at you for a long second as the house goes quiet. His eye light flickers before expanding as a navy-blue blush slowly overtakes his face. “i-i’ll just…wait b-by the door” He stutters outs as he drops his gaze to the floor. Shrugging, you head upstairs with your bag, still holding hands with an embarrassed Mars, while Dust laughs his tailbone off.

Outside of the bathroom you drop Mars’ hand, signing “ **I’ll probably be a while, is that okay?** ”  

Still not fully looking at you “yeah, you got your phone, right?” You nod, but realize he isn’t looking at your face, so you give him a quick thumbs up. ”i’ll just wait out here. text me if you need me.” Nodding again you head to the bathroom and close the door behind you. 

Entering the bathroom, you place your bag on the floor by the sink. Removing your tattered clothes, you toss them into a pile over by the door. Enjoying the feel of being unclothed your bones rattle gently together. Turning the shower on and adjusting the temperature you move over to your bag and bring out your favorite soap. Taking the soap, you hop in the shower, letting the water wash over you.

Turning your vision off you tilt your skull up to the shower head. The water falls into your eye sockets, rinsing out the inside of your skull. Enjoying the sound it makes, as the drops of water hits the inside of your skull, causing a slight echoing effect. Stepping out from under the water you lather the soap on a loofah and continue to clean all the dirt and grime from your bones. Feeling some of the stress of the day wash away. Taking your time rinsing under the water, to enjoy the feel of water flowing down your body. The sound of wind chimes on a rainy afternoon fills the bathroom as a gentle shudder shaking your form.

Exiting the shower, you quickly dry off with a fluffy towel and begin applying the bone lotion. You detach your arm to get better coverage of your back.

“…Y/N…” While applying the lotion to your back Ember appears besides you. Locking sockets, you stare at it each other…

‘…’

“…”

Ember slowly floats backwards until he phases through the door.

‘…’ You continue rubbing the lotion into your bones ‘You know you should really try knocking.’ You tease, pretty sure he’s still on the other side of the door.

“Y…You k-know…I c…can’t do t…that.” He says with a huff, giving the door a ghostly pout.

‘But you can at least say “knock knock”.’ You suggest with a chuckle. 

Sighing in defeat “Knock…k…nock…knock.” 

‘Really?’ You think with a snort. Reattaching your arm, you feel satisfied at the amount of bone lotion you’ve applied. You’re starting to feel it being absorbed into your bones, chasing away some of the hunger and fatigue you had earlier. ‘You can come in now.’ You state moving over to take some clothes out of your bag.

Ember cautiously floats through the door to see your naked body crouched in front of your bag. “…Y/N…I…need your…help.” He states in a calm ghostly voice. Pausing in your search for clothes you look towards him and his serious expression.

‘What’s wrong?’ You ask, starting to feel concerned. Hopefully those other skeletons haven’t come to cause trouble, you really don’t want to deal with that again today. Especially when you were just starting to calm down and relax from the whole ordeal. 

“T…The others” Tensing immediately, mild panic fills your soul. As if sensing your panic, he corrects himself. “No, I…m-mean…Mars…Ju-piter…and D-Dust.” He clarifies. 

‘Oh.’ 

“Th-ey’re…in s-hock.” 

‘In shock?’ You ask, with a slight tilt of your head.

Nodding his head as he bobs up and down. “…Yes…th-they c…could use s-some…reassu…reance…that you’re okay.” He sounds almost pleading. You didn’t notice too much of a difference, Jupiter was a bit off, Mars was cuddly, and Dust a is bit more distant but nothing that really set off warning bells for you. Grant it you’ve only been here for a couple of days, it would make sense if you didn’t pick up on some of the more subtle signs of something being wrong, unlike Ember.

Nodding your head, you agree to talk to them tomorrow. Looking relieved Ember gives you a ghostly nuzzle before disappearing. Reaching into your bag you pull out a simple dark blue t-shirt and some soft, thin pajama pants. Putting on the clothes you inspect yourself in the mirror. The mirror is a bit old, a few spots around the edges are permanently foggy and the edges are chipped and cracked in some places. Despite that, you still manage to get a good look at yourself. The creamy color of your bones has started to come back, and you don’t notice any bruising or hairy line cracks either. The healing potion did a good job on fixing you up. Moving your body around, doing some stretches and yoga poses you check to make sure that your body truly is fine. Just because you’ve been healed doesn’t mean you’re the same as you were before the attack.

Your body is fine, but you still feel mentally exhausted. It makes you feel a bit worried since you did rest and apply the bone lotion, but you must have been panicking more than you thought. Your soul being in distress for so long must have tuckered you out. You’ll need to try and stay calm for the next couple of days if you aren’t feeling better by tomorrow. Reaching into your bag, you bring out your toothbrush and toothpaste. Brushing your teeth always helps you relax, not the process of brushing your teeth so much, but the way it makes you look while doing it.

Laughing to yourself you lean over the sink as you brush your teeth. Foam and suds start to form around your teeth creating a foamy mouth skeleton! Looking in the mirror you watch the foam covering your teeth drip down your jaw and into the sink. It’s a very messy process and there are other, less messy option, but then you wouldn’t be a foamy skeleton! Lifting your arms and stomping your feet you roar at the mirror as if you were a scary predator on the hunt. After a couple of minutes of playing in the mirror you carefully wiped the toothpaste from around your mouth. You just put this shirt on and it’d be a pain for it to get dirty already. You look at your bag and back to your toothbrush and toothpaste before deciding to place your toothbrush in the toothbrush holder and the toothpaste on the sink.

Picking up your bag you exit the bathroom to find… no one. Looking down the hall towards the room, Mars is nowhere to be seen. Hearing a small pop behind you, you turn around to see a sweaty Mars. He looks a bit shaken up, his grin is in a slight grimace and his red eye light is hazy and out of focus.

Signing “ **Are you okay? Is everything alright?** ” You can feel yourself starting to panic, thinking about what Ember said and worrying about the other skeletons. His one eye light sharpens and enlarges as he focuses on you, beginning to visibly relax. Skeletal lids (eyelids) dropping slightly, he lets out a relieved sigh.

“yeah, just had to check up on pap.” Oh, you start to calm down a little, slightly concerned that Jupiter might be worried about what happened earlier today, but hoping that he just needed help cooking or something. “come on, dinners ready.” He says taking your hand and leading you downstairs. Normally you wouldn’t mind joining them for dinner, but you think you’ll pass for today.

Entering the kitchen Dust is sitting at the table with his head down “sleeping” probably. Hearing your footsteps shuffle into the kitchen, Jupiter turns away from the stove, a big yet nervous small on his face.  “YOU TO ARE JUST IN TIME, FOR MY SPECIAL COMFORT SPAGHETTI!” He says, proudly posing in front of the stove. Mars moves over to the table, letting go of your hand as he pulls out of his chair. 

“ **Guys, I’m pretty tired so I think I’m going to go to bed.** ” You barely finished signing before you had everyone’s undivided attention, even Dust! And he had his eyes closed!! Mars abandons his chairs as he suddenly appears in front of you eye light extinguished.

 

“no.”

 

Okay you can understand why they might be a bit hesitant about letting you sleep outside but after today sleeping in the ground might help the fatigue that just doesn’t seem to go away. “ **Uh what if I slept in the backyard?** ” After all, you were attacked in the front yard, not the back.

Getting ever so slightly closer he gently yet firmly grabs your wrist. “No.”

Timidly looking down you try your best to sign to them, “ **But, but I need to be in the ground to eat.** ” You feel Mars’ hand flinch as his body tensed. Looking up, his eye light is hazy and small, grin stretched uncomfortably wide, with a hint of a grimace in it. Behind him you notice that Jupiter is very twitchy as he shifts uncomfortably while he messes with the end of his gloves. Glancing at Dust he seems…bored? Or maybe annoyed? Either way he seems to be arguing with a very angry Ember.

There must be some kind of compromised. A room with dirt that you could sleep in, like your room.

.

.

.

Your room!

 

Bouncing happily at the idea, you quickly sign for them to follow you. Grabbing Mars’ wrist, you run upstairs with everyone else right behind you. Stopping between the guest room and Dust’s room, you let go of Mars’ hand and drop your bag. Ignoring the looks of confusion as you reach inside with both hands. After a bit of searching you find what you're looking for and slowly pull out a door. It’s a simple brown door with a yellowish brown door knob. You wobble back and forth from the weight and height of the door. Before they could help you with it, you place it against the wall. Straightening it out with the help of Jupiter you get it placed firmly against the wall. Turning to the others, Mars looks shocked and Dust is squatting over your bag as he pears insides with an intrigued look on his face. Shooing him away from your bag you close it and let it hang from your shoulder. 

“ **Okay, this solves everything now! This is my Dimensional Room!** ” You proudly show off the door with jazz hands.

“What?”

“ **A Dimensional Room. It’s a door that you can program any room of your desire into. I already programmed my “ideal” room into it. That was from a couple of years ago so I might need to update it a bit, but it should be fine for now.** ” 

“and…is it safe?”

“ **Yes! The door can’t be moved by anyone but me and only one room can be programmed into this door, so you guys can open the door without fear of creating a new room or ending up someplace weird. It’ll work like being a part of your actual house even if it’s technically in a different plan of existence.** ” A shudder rips through you as the sleep sneaks up on you again. Opening your door wide enough for them to look inside, you turn on the lights, “ **Is this fine? I’m really tired so I’d appreciate being able to sleep now.** ” You give them an exhausted smile, even though they can’t see it, but you’re sure your aura looks exhausted too.

Mars lifts a finger probably about to say something before Jupiter cuts him off “OF COURSE Y/N! YOU MUST BE EXHAUSTED AFTER… “There was a slight pause before he continued with a smile. ”WE’LL BE DOWN STAIRS HAVING DINNER IF YOU NEED US.” He calls from over his shoulder as he pushes Mars and Dust out of your doorway and down the hall.

Exciting your room, you sign a quick good night to them when you notice them turn their heads to look at you. Receiving your good nights in return, you go back into your room. Closing the door and turning off the light, you face plant in the soft grass. Allowing your body to phase through the ground. Sleep comes quick for you.

  
  


Despite your room being in another dimension he was still able to teleport into your room.

“…y-you…sh-shouldn’t t-tele…port into some-one e…else’s r-room…” Ember scolds Dust, making sure to whisper so he doesn’t disturb you. Dust just rolls his eye in annoyance before looking around your room. It’s plan; some grass, a bed pushed to the side wall, a desk under the window opposite of the door, and a dresser to his right. Looking up he can see the stars, whether it’s the actual stars or artificially created ones he isn’t sure.

Ember floats around your room making comments about what you have and don’t have. He is surprised by the lack of things in your room. Based on the conversation you had discussing interior design for the house; he assumed your room would have…more effort. Then again you did say this was an old room, so maybe this isn’t your ideal room anymore.

Floating over to Dust he’s sitting by the door, gripping his hood as he glares in your direction. They can’t see you, but they can feel were your soul is, although Dust can probably see it as well. Your souls is quieter when you sleep, a soothing lullaby. Dust stands and walks over to your sleeping form buried deep underground. Putting his hands in his pockets, his stare turns into a glare before changing to a look of boredom and indifference.

Small quakes of anger start to shake his form as a purple haze appear from his left eye socket. His smile stretching just a little as he tilts his head to the side and back, while still looking down at you. Magic flowing freely throughout the room as his murderous intent rises with each passing second. His smile becoming more and more unhinged.

 

“Dust..!”

 

“what?” He mumbles under his breath, some spite lacing his voice. Magic diminishing slowly as he regains control. Ember opens his mouth to speak when the door knob jiggles. Dust quickly teleports away living Ember behind as Mars and Jupiter enters the room. Ember shakes his head in disapproving manner before disappearing as well.

Mars and Jupiter weren’t planning on coming to your room at the same time. Mars had already read Jupiter his bed time story and tucked him in. While laying in his bed waiting for sleep to take him, he saw flashes of Papyrus in the snowy woods of the underground. He stood there unable to do anything while that, demon,

Slice!

 

cuts his head off. Watching as his body disappears and then his head. Opening his sockets, he’s out in the forest again, watching you run pass him. You look in his direction with those empty sockets before,

 

Crack!

 

Your head is knocked clean from your body, crashing into a nearby tree.

 

Enough!

 

He doesn’t want to see anymore of it.

 

Reaching up he tugs on his right socket, using the pain to ground him. The forest slowly fades away leaving him in his room.

He teleports to Papyrus’ room.

 

But he isn’t there.

 

Panicking he burst out of Papyrus’ room, shocking Papyrus who's standing in front of your room.

 

Your room.

 

He quickly teleports in front of your door and starts opening it.

 

Papyrus looks like he wants to say something but doesn’t stop his brother, instead stands behind him as he nervously rubs his arm. Once inside they instantly notice Dust’s magic in the air, he must have been worried about you too. Given the peaceful state of your soul Papyrus can only assume you didn’t know he was here. He heads over to your bed grateful that you have one but confused as to why you have one and why it’s big enough to comfortable fit him. Getting in the bed he settles down on the side next to the wall, sure that his brother will join him once he’s done staring at your soul. Until then he lets the gentle hum of your soul lull him to sleep.

Everything was fine, good even. Jupiter was fine and asleep in your bed and you were fine, sleeping peacefully in the ground. Your soul pulse was bright and even. Your soul song creating a gentle lullaby that filled the room. Feeling exhausted he moved over to your bed, dropping his hoodie on the floor, as he gets in. Facing towards you he watches your soul, letting its soft light and song lull him to sleep. He doesn’t think he’ll have a problem tonight, but he wishes he could sleep next to you.

  


***

 

Y/N

LV 1

HP 3

ATK2

DEF 0

_Your friendly mystic skeleton! Please don’t attack the skeleton!_

 

Casually tossing and catching a bone in his hand, as he flips through his phone. He could hear Sans in the kitchen trying to prepare dinner. The sound of pots and pans clacking, and curses could be heard from the kitchen. Papyrus chuckles to himself knowing that Sans is probably distracted by a certain skeleton. Even he was preoccupied with thoughts of you. 

His mind keeps drifting back to your soul. The soft beige light of your inverted heart. The way your aura turned soft and compassionate as you cupped your soul with such adoration. Your soul song was sweet and earthy. It was bright and precise with a hollow wooden echo effect from the xylophone or balafon, paired with the gentle sound of a wind chime. Her bones sung its own tune; as a soft melody similar to a lullaby played on the xylophone.

The song of your soul and bones coming together to form a perfect harmony. Hearing it made him feel relax, calm, safe even. He wanted to hear it more to be surrounded by it. He tried to look up similar songs online, to see if it had the same affect.

 

It didn’t.

 

Nothing he listen too has the same effect as you did on him. Smoke drifts into the room along with loud cursing indicating that dinner was probably finished. After a couple of clanks and the sound of the stove slamming shut, Sans appears in the doorway of the smoky kitchen. 

“Dinner Is Ready.” He says with a slight scowl (his form of a pout), probably because he accidentally burned something again.

“what’d ya burn this time?” Papyrus asks with a smug look on his face.

Glaring at his brother he looks away, “Nothing.”

Glancing up at the wafts of smoke clinging to the ceiling with a raised bone brow, he looks at his bro with an expression that reads “really?”

With a huff Sans turns sharply on his heels, “It Was The Garlic Bread.” He states before marching into the kitchen.

Laugh to himself Papyrus deconstructs the bone and heads into the kitchen. Sitting down at the table he’s thankful that Sans didn’t burn the casserole. He’s not really a bad cook he just tends to get distracted a lot when cooking; so he forgets to add ingredients, forgets he already added an ingredient in, so he adds more, or he’ll accidentally throw in something that wasn’t supposed to be added.

“that mystic skeleton got ya distracted bro?” Papyrus teases from the other side of the table. A faint royal blue blush appears on his cheekbones as he clears his throat.

“Please, I Am Only Slightly Interest In Such A Pathetic Being.” He explains, while looking off to the side. He knows you gained his brother’s interest as well. Ever since they came back, he started doing research on mystic skeletons, trying to learn anything and everything about you. He isn’t sure how reliable the source is, if it’s anything like the info on monster, than it should probably be taken with a grain of salt.

“sure.” He says between chuckles as he scoops some of the casserole onto his plate.

Sans fixes his own plate before looking at Papyrus. “I Want You To Find Her And Bring Her Back Here.” He asks, this mystic skeleton is interesting and her entire being is just so…comforting and soft. Completely different from the horrid sounds and murky aura you had when he first saw you. He wants to learn more about you.

“heh, got it bro.” This is one mission that he’ll gladly accept. They both want to get to learn more about you and to hear your soul one more time. He knows it’ll be difficult after the encounter they had earlier today, the guys will no doubt be protective over you. It might take a while to get you by yourself but he’s willing to wait, if it means he gets another chance to listen to your song again.

 

 

* * *

 

Note:

 

Thanks for reading! Please leave any comments or questions down below. And speaking of comments...

What do you guys think your soul trait is?

The color and shape have been mentioned but not the trait, so let me know what you think! 

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Until next time I'll see ya in June!

 


	11. Jupiter's Reassurance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You decorate your room and talk to tall skeleton.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is another waking up chapter, but I hope you enjoy it anyway! And thanks for the lovely comments they always make my day :)

 

It’s noisy outside, with all the construction going on. Trying your best to ignore it, you huddle deeper into the dirt surrounding you. You’re in that perfect spot where you feel completely relaxed, at peace. They’re probably working on the house. If they need you to move or leave someone will come up and get you. Suddenly, you heard a loud thump from outside followed by a wave of vibrations. It feels like a tree fell, bones shaking from the vibrations.

‘Guess now is as good any to get up.’ Rolling onto your back you stretch your arms out in front of you. Placing your hands on the ground you pull yourself up, noticing that your body is less sore, and the hum of your soul has finally evened out. Bones rattling gently, you watch as the dirt falls from your sockets, reveling in the feeling of dirt dancing off your bones. Waiting for the last bit of sleep to leave you, you hear someone coughing from beside you. Glancing to the side, you see Mars leaning on one arm as he lies next to you.

He stops coughing as he takes in your dirt cover form. He grimaces at the dirt falling from your sockets, watching the dirt filters off your bones and pours from your nasal cavity and jaw. It looks painful but it was kind of hypnotic in a way.

Raising your hand, you poke him in between his eye sockets before getting out of the ground completely. Dirt continues to fall from between your bones and clothes as you stand and stretch.

“heh, how was the _dirt nap_?” He asks from his place on the ground.

“ **It was pretty _gneiss_ , a well-deserved rest after yesterday.**” He tenses for a moment before relaxing again as he plops down on the soft ground below.

Lightly chuckling, “good one. who knew a _bedrock_ could be so comfy.” He teases, while wiggling into the ground, making himself comfortable.

Walking to his side you lean over him to sign. “ ** _Granite_ that was a bit _rocky_. I know you can do better than that.** ” The soft rattle from your bones causing some dirt and dust to fall.

“eh i thought it was pretty _solid_. guess i’ll have to try _a grain_.” He says with a proud smirk. If you had eyelights you’d be rolling them.

“ **I think you’re getting _boulder_ with these puns. Keep this up and Papyrus will _igneous_.** ” Laughing, Mars pulls you down until your sitting again, bringing you closer to him as he carefully wraps his body around you.

“that was so bad.” He says between laughs.

“ **Wow talk about a _tuff_ crowd, guess the _pressure_ is on now.** ”

Before Mars can speak a loud voice from downstairs cuts him off. “BROTHERS, Y/N! BREAKFAST IS READY FOR YOUR CONSUMPTION. NYEH HEH HEH!” Yells, Jupiter’s joyous(?) voice. Shocking both of you out of your _punny_ moment.

You try to get up, but Mars tightens his grip and snuggles closer. “ **Come on _numbskull_ breakfast is waiting for ya.** ” He mumbles something under his breath that you can’t hear. Shaking him again, “ **You know Jupiter will come and break the door down.** ” You tease knowingly. He continues mumbling into your lap refusing to get up. Wiggling in his hold you sign, “ **Come on princess do you want me to carry you, do you need me to feed ya too?** ” You tease, a navy blush spreading across his cheeks. He gently pushes your skull away from his before getting up, grumbling about you being a tease as he does so.

Extending his hand for you to take, “you coming?”

Standing up on your own so he doesn’t just teleport you to the kitchen, “ **Not yet. I want to get cleaned up and change clothes before heading down.** ” He seemed a bit disappointed when you didn’t take his hand, but his expression quickly shifts to one of understanding. He nods his head with a brief see ya before leaving through the door.

Once he left you stripped off your clothes and put them in your bag for now. Bringing out some new clothes and a can of magiair you place them on the neatly made bed. You still felt a bit bad about them spending so much on you when it could have gone to fixing up their house and buying groceries.

Picking up the can of magiair you spray off all the dirt, dust, and debris from your bones. After removing the dirt, you put on a flowy blue dress and give it a little twirl. The bottom of the dress flares up to twirl around your knees, before gently floating back down. It’s the main reason you wanted it, and they were happy to buy it for you.

Making your way downstairs you head for the kitchen where Jupiter, Mars, and Dust are eating at the table. Looks like they’re having bacon and eggs with toast, as you enter the kitchen Dust glares at you before taking his plate and teleporting away.

“…D-Dust!” Ember yells after his brother.

You stare blankly at where Dust was and look towards Ember for answers.

“I…I’m…s-sorry.” He quickly apologizes before going after his brother. You stare in the direction where they once were, with confusion and concern until Mars brings you out of your thoughts.

“don’t worry about him, he’s just being moody.” Mars says stabbing his eggs.

“MY BROTHER IS RIGHT HE DOES HAVE A TENDENCY TO GET MOODY SOMETIMES.” Jupiter explains, trying to comfort you.

Nodding your head, you move to sit down. ‘Maybe he’s mad because I asked him not to kill the others?’ You think to yourself, slightly hoping that Ember would hear and answer your question.

 

He didn’t.

 

Sitting across from Mars you sign, “ **So what was that noise outside? Were you working on the house?** ” You ask Jupiter.

Mars looks a little confused, you suppose he didn’t hear any of the noise from this morning. He really is a heavy sleeper.

Jupiter quickly swallows his food, “I WAS OUTSIDE ATTENDING TO MY DUTIES.” He says nervously not really looking at you or Mars. Mars stares at him for a moment but doesn’t say anything as he goes back to eating.

“ **Duties?** ” You ask with a tilt of your head, your question triggering Jupiter to eat faster.

After he devoured his food, he gathers up his plate and heads for the sink. “YES, MY OUTDOOR DUTIES. I’LL NEED TO HAVE IT FINISHED BEFORE WORK.” He finishes cleaning and rinsing off his plate before placing it into the drying rack. “WELL I’LL BE OFF NOW.” He yells slightly louder than normal as he runs out of the house.

You and Mars share a look, both equally confused as to what just happened. Mars looks away first and continues eating but you can see that he’s still concerned about his brother’s strange behavior.

“ **Sooo.** ” Deciding to change the subject for now, “ **Do you want to help me pick out stuff for my room?** ”

“...ya mean shopping?” He asks with a hint of nervousness.

“ **Well we don’t have to. I was thinking of looking through those interior design mags Em-Papyrus, has to get an idea of what I want my room to be. Since it uses magic to create my ideal room, no shopping is necessary.** ” You explain, hoping he didn’t catch your slight slip up.

Some of the tension leaves his body as he nods his head. “sure kid.” He gets up and dumps his plate in the sink, before following you into the living room.

You collect a couple of magazines that you are interested in before plopping down on the couch. Mars plops down next to you, placing his feet in your lap with a mischievous smirk on his face. Again, if you had eyelights you’d be rolling them right now. Getting comfy you start flipping through the magazines. ‘Hey Ember, do you want to help me pick out furniture for my room?’

 

…There’s no reply…

 

Feeling a little bum that Ember isn’t here you continue looking through the magazines. Outside, you hear metal and chains clanking together. Finding something you like; you turn to ask Mars for his opinion but he’s sound asleep…

So, you throw the magazine at him and it lands square on his face cutting off a faint snore. He slowly pulls the magazine away from his face with a poor attempt at a glare. “ **What do you think of this desk?** ” You show him a black Victorian desk with an intricate design.

He stares at the picture for a bit, “looks complicated.” He mumbles.

Moving his legs off your lap, you crawl on top of him. Wiggling a bit, you lay with your back on his chest so you can look at the magazines together. Missing his blush, “ **What’s so complicated about it?** ” You ask, looking at the picture of the desk.

He clears his magical throat, “the design.” Thinking for a bit you show him another page with a medieval design for a desk and bookshelf. He vetoes this one too, claiming it’s complicated and too dark. “this is a bit depressing; don’t you have anything...happier?”

Pouting you show him some of the wicker furniture that had caught your eye socket. He seems to approve of these more but questions the comfort value of them. As you keep skimming through the pages you realized Mars wasn’t very helpful. He often makes puns or poke your cheek bones and ribs, occasionally he’ll fall asleep making you (gently) slap or shake him awake.

You want your room to have natural colors, wicker furniture and a gothic aesthetic. Mars seems to want a simple, homey and rustic aesthetic, with comfy being the top priority. He keeps recommending a big bean bag chair and keeping the starry sky, while rejecting any design that seems too depressing or spooky; in fear that Jupiter might not take it well. He constantly reminds you that the bed should be large enough to fit Jupiter. Meanwhile Jupiter is constantly running in and out of the house. Always leaving empty handed but coming back with wires, bear traps, planks of wood, chains, and nets. You try your best to ignore him for now.

“ **Am I making this room for me or for you guys?** ” You sass as he vetoes a bed with metal flames as the headboard. Mars doesn’t say anything in reply, he just mumbles something under his breath while he nuzzles into your neck. Huffing you lean back into his embrace with your head resting on his. You continue looking through the pages with a pouty Mars, as you compromise on modern gothic furniture.

Finally, picking out a few pieces of furniture that meets both of your requirements. With an image of your room in mind, you close the magazine and move to set them on the table. Almost dropping them when Jupiter bursts through the back door, arms filled with wooden planks and chains. The sound was loud enough to wake Mars.

**“Hey Jupiter, need any help?** ” You feel Mars tense as he moves to sit up to get a better look at you and his brother. Once his eyelight lands on Jupiter he seems confused as to what his brother has been doing all day.

“NO!” Jupiter yells suddenly before catching himself and lowering his volume. “I-I MEAN NO THANK YOU Y/N I HAVE EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL.”

“ **Ah, you sure?** ”

“OF COURSE, I’M SURE IN FACT, I’M ALMOST DONE! NOW IF YOU’LL EXCUSE ME, I MUST HURRY, SO I CAN BE READY FOR WORK.” He quickly runs up the stairs not even looking back to see if you responded. You and Mar share another look, looking very concerned for his brother.

“ **Is he okay?** ” Memories of your conversation with Ember replaying in your skull.

 

‘Th-ey’re…in s-hock.’

‘…Yes…th-they c…could use s-some…reassu…reance…that you’re okay.’

 

“yeah, he’s probably working on some puzzles.” He says despite not fully believing it himself.

Standing up, you stretch a bit before signing to Mars “ **Wanna watch me create our room** ” You sign in a teasing manner with your hand out stretch for him to take it. Mars stares at you a bit, his navy-blue blush slowly encompassing his face. Looking away, he ducks into his jacket as he grabs your hand.

Pulling him off of the couch you head upstairs to your room. Approaching your room, the door is closed. Dropping Mars’ hand, you place your other hand on the door. Focusing your magic on the door you start to imagine what you want your room to look like, taking into consideration Mars’ opinion. Your magic flows through you and into the door, feeling the door shift as it takes on its new form. Once the door settles beneath your bony hand, your magic stops flowing into the door and your vision returns. Looking at your door it’s the same design as the skeleton’s door blending in perfectly with their house rather than standing out like a sore thumb. Turning to Mars you sign, “ **Well, let’s check it out.** ” You open your door to reveal your new room.

Entering your room, the wall is a cool blueish grey color. Along the walls hang French iron dragon medieval castle scones, which are lit with magical fire. The magical fire acting as regular lights that can be turned on off at the flick of a switch. The candlelight keeps the room lit enough to not hurt the average person’s eye but dark enough, so you don’t need to wear your sunglasses. Across from the door is a window which overlooks the front yard, it’s framed with thin blue curtain. The light shining through the curtains cast a sparkly blue glow around the room.

Underneath the window is a black wicker trunk. To the right of the window sits a silver wicker hanging egg chair and to the left is a king-sized bed. It’s big enough to comfortably fit three Jupiters. The bed has a black wicker frame with a canopy. From the canopy hangs a black veil, which drapes around the bed. At the foot of the bed is a TV on a slick black cabinet that holds various video games and a game console.

Between the bed and the TV rest a giant blue bean bag chair per Mars’ request. It’s big enough to comfortably fit two adults. On the right side of the room across from the TV, is a silver dresser. A silver desk is on the far-right wall and beside it is a black coffin bookshelf. The floor is a soft, plush, silver glow light grass and the ceiling is still the ever-beautiful starry sky. No matter how bright the room may get the stars above will always be visible.

Mars lets out a low whistle as he takes in ~~our~~ your room, admiring various aspects of ~~our~~ your room.

His eyelight lingers on the stars and grass and you notice the fond smile at the sight of the large bed and the bean bag chair. He gives you a smug smile before flopping onto the bean bag, crossing your arms you look away from him inspect the rest of your room. After you finish inspecting your room and making sure there aren’t any problems, you walk over to Mars and sit beside him.

He cracks one socket open to look at you. “ **So, how do you like the room?** ” Not really the question you wanted to ask but it’s a good ice breaker.

He lazily looks around the room again, “it’s nice. too be honest i didn’t expect this,” he lazily gestures to the room “to be your style but it’s nice. it suits you, heh, very mystical.” Your bones rattle, feeling happy that he liked the room. It does have a bit of your old home’s touch especially the grass, it was found in one of your favorite places in the Skeleton Kingdom.

Loud stomping comes up the stairs followed shortly by a door slamming. Re-focusing on the task at hand you stand up and brush off you dress. “ **Thanks, I’m glad you like it.** ” Who knows how often he’ll actually be here through? “ **You can wait here if you want, I’m going to see if I can go to work with Jupiter.** ” Before you could touch the doorknob, Mars has an arm wrapped around your lower ribs and the other is pressed against the door. ‘Yup, they’re definitely acting weird.’

“you’re not going outside.” He states, his breath brushing against your ear hole.

Turning around to face him, “ **Why not?** ” You have a hunch as to why he seems twitchy about you going outside.

“not safe.” He says, eyelight slowly going out of focus until you boop his nose ridge with your own. The sudden action bringing him back.

“ **I’ll be fine, and I’ll be with Jupiter.** ” Mar still seems a bit reluctant to let you go. “ **Mars, we both know that Jupiter has been acting strange lately.** ” It’s quite between the two of you. “ **I-it just feels like he’s been avoiding me since the incident,** ” Mars twitches, a low growl escaping him at the mention of the incident. “ **I think we need a private talk, just me and him. This won’t be like last time, I’m awake and alert and Jupiter will be there as well.** ” Mars still seems a bit reluctant. “ **Please, I can always call you or Dust if anything goes wrong.** ” You plead giving him your best puppy eye socket.

Finally, he relents with a heavy sigh, “fine you can go, but you better call if something goes wrong.” You give him a quick hug and sign a quick thank you before leaving room to catch up to Jupiter. Mars walks back to the beanbag chair, plopping down and sinking further into the beanbag, letting his hands drag across his face.

.

.

.

“wait, call?” Mars says out loud finally registering what you just said. He quickly teleports to Jupiter’s room to find no one. Teleporting to the living room, he looks around for either you or Jupiter but finds no one.

 

***

 

Running downstairs, Jupiter is nowhere to be found. Heading toward the back door you see Jupiter in his mystic skeleton form already on his way to work. Opening the door, you run after him, making as much noise with your feet and bag as you can. Jupiter turns around as you approach with immediate fear in his eye sockets. “Y/N! WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUTSIDE!?”

“ **I’m going to work with you! Don’t worry the others already know.** ” Well, Mars knows.

Jupiter nervously glances around the area as he weighs his options. With a heavy sigh, “FINE, YOU MAY COME WITH ME TO WORK.”

“ **Yes! Let’s go!** ” You cheer as you grab his hand and start walking in a random direction. Jupiter releases a nervous chuckle before redirecting your path, while still allowing you to “lead the way”. Jupiter was very attentive of you; moving branches out of your way and lifting you over bushes. You appreciate the concern, but you aren’t made of glass and even glass can be hard to break! Stretching your arms above your head you prepare yourself for the talk with Jupiter. It would be for the best to talk now rather than while he’s working. You start signing to him, but he isn’t looking at you.

Instead his attention is on his surroundings, you can tell his guard is up; he’s paying attention to every noise and movement from within the forest. Bones sagging, you stretch your fingers, before tugging on his white hoodie to get his attention. He jerks a little at the sudden contact but relaxes when he sees it's you.

 

tap.

 

Jupiter’s head snapped in a direction, his sockets squinting as he slowly moves closer to you. You look in the same direction, but you don’t see anything. Probably due to the height difference and where you’re standing. However, you do feel as though someone is staring at you. Suddenly, you’re being carried bridal style as Jupiter runs through the forest.

Ducking under trees, leaping over bushes and taking multiple twists and turns, he maneuvers throughout the forest. Bouncing slightly in his hold you feel like you’re on a carnival ride. It’s keeping you safely in the ride, but you’re still being shaken about and most importantly, always keep your arms and legs inside the ride. So, you curl in on yourself, enough to hide in Jupiter’s chest, but stretched enough so he can comfortably hold you without fear of dropping you.

Tilting your head back, you look to see who is following you. It’s the tall skeleton from yesterday, you can’t really see him since he keeps teleporting within the treetops. Your bones rattle in aggravation causing Jupiter to grip you tighter as he speeds up. ‘If you’re going to stalk someone than don’t get caught! And if you DO get caught at least have the decency to reveal yourself or leave! We know you’re there so, why are you still following us!’ As you rant to yourself about the sudden annoyance that’s ruining your chance to talk to Jupiter, you reach into your bag for one of your phase fruits.

You only have a few left and would rather not use it right now. There are other options, but you don’t want Jupiter to freak out when you both suddenly turn invisible. Beside you don’t know for sure what’s wrong with Jupiter, so it’s better to play it safe until you talk to him. His grip tightens around you once more bringing you out of your thoughts. Looking around as best you can, your sockets freeze on the cliff in front of you.

 

The cliff is approaching.

 

Jupiter isn’t stopping!

 

Gripping Jupiter and curling further into him your eye sockets stay locked on the cliff ahead.

 

He doesn’t stop.

 

Reaching the edge of the cliff he pushes and jumps off. As you sore through the air he curls his body around you as if doing a cannonball. You feel a shift in momentum as you plummet to the ground. Narrowly missing tree branches as you approach the ground. Once your about seven feet from the ground Jupiter uncurls, extending one leg in front of him, he hit the ground running as he continues to maneuver around the forest.

Your magic is thumping loudly in your bones. The adrenaline causing a rush of excitement to course through your bone. You’re vaguely concerned about Jupiter’s ankles and knee, but since he’s still running you assume, he’s fine. Taking a chance, you look back paying close attention to the trees above you, but no one’s there. Continuing to observe the area behind you for any signs of the tall skeleton, only to come up empty handed. Jupiter slows down and you assume you aren’t being followed anymore that or he’s tired. Not that you can blame him.

Slowing down to a brisk walk, his long legs quickly cross the forest. Patting his chest, you wait for him to look at you before signing, “ **I’m fine Pap, you can put me down now.** ” He flinches for a second before continuing to walk at a slower pace.

 

He doesn’t say anything.

 

“ **I can walk perfectly fine on my own you know?** ”

 

“I Know.” He says in a quiet voice, looking a little dejected as he comes to a stop. It looks like he’s battling with himself on whether he should continue holding you or to put you down.

“ **I must be heavy for you, and you're probably tired.** ” You try to express that your desire to walk has nothing to do with him personally, you just don’t want to be a burden.

 

Useless.

 

His shoulders sag as a small smile graces his teeth (not really since he’s a mystic skeleton but you can feel it). “WORRY NOT Y/N. FOR YOU ARE ACTUALLY QUITE LIGHT.” He reassures. You know your light; skeletons typically aren’t that heavy after all. However, it doesn’t stop the pout from seeping into your aura. Jupiter chuckles softly at your pouting aura, slightly easing his grip on you.

There is an awkward silence between the two of you as you approach a giant beech tree. In the middle of the tree is a wooden treehouse, the branches spread out to perfectly cup the house nestled in the middle. The treehouse has a wraparound deck with two methods for getting up there; one is by taking the stairs off to the side and the other is by taking the rope ladder in front of the door. Jupiter, who refuses to put you down despite the awkwardness, takes the stairs up to the deck. The stairs lead to the side of the build instead of the front. Still carrying you he walks around to the front, while you stare in awe at the exterior of the building.

There are various potted plants positioned around the deck. Most of which are non-magical plants but there are a few magical plants spread about. Nightcrawlers are growing on the walls, not enough to cover it completely just enough to decorate it. You can’t see much of the roof, but it looks like there are some sun blooms growing on it They should be open since it’s early in the afternoon.

Your thoughts are interrupted as Jupiter gently places you on your feet with a concerned expression. “ **Sorry I was too busy admiring the place.”** You explain with a nervous rattle. “ **Do you work here?** ” You ask even through your positive the answer is yes.

Nodding his head, he turns to give the place a once over, “YES, I WORK HERE AS A GARDEN ATTENDANT. ISN’T THIS PLACE MAGNIFICENT?” He asks with pride in his voice.

“ **It’s great! Not as great as you, but it seems like a fun place to work.** ”

His aura drops a bit before he quickly catches it. “OF COURSE! NOW COME, WE CAN’T BOONDOGGLE ALL DAY.” He marches to the door, opening it wide and he proceeds to get tackled by a green blur.

Landing inches from your feet, Jupiter is being licked by a puppy sized venus flytrap. The mystical plant licking his skeletal face as he tries to push the plant off him.

“Carni! What are you doing?” A soft and sweet voice yells from within the building. The owner of the voice soon stands in the doorway. “Carni! Get off of…Oh hey Jupiter!” She says with a friendly wave. “How’ve you been?” She asks looking down at the still struggling skeleton with a smile on her face and hands on her hips.

She an inch or two taller than you with brown skin and slightly darker freckles sprinkled across her face. She is curvy and her body looks soft and plushy. Her black hair is styled in twists that come down to her shoulder. Woven within her hair are purple and pink wisteria flowers, whether they’re just woven in or grown from her head you’re unsure.

Her clothes consist of a white long sleeve form fitting sweater with black skinny pants, not leggings but also not jeans. Over her sweater is a thin loose fitted dark green shirt (?), with a triangle cut out starting from just below her bosom and goes down to her hips. Creating a longer tail in the back. She has white and grey knee-high boots with a slight heel and on her forearms are brown leather arm guards. Hanging loosely around her hips is a thin decorative chain with different sized pouches hanging from them.

“I’VE BEEN WELL, BUT I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF YOU COULD REMOVE THIS PLANT FROM ME!” Jupiter pleads as he tries to avoid getting plant slobber in his mouth…ew.

Laughing, “Alright, alright. Playtime's over, come on.” She scopes down and picks up the plant. Tucking the plant under her arm, “Sorry about that, come on let’s get you cleaned up.” She holds the door open for you and Jupiter as she keeps a firm hold on Carni. Inside the building looks like a café, a couple of tables with some chairs. Overall the room has a peaceful nature feel, in the back of the room is a service desk. On the left side of the room is a door, behind the desk there are two doors side by side and to the right are the bathrooms.

“ **I thought you were working at a greenhouse?** ” You ask slightly confused as to why you walked into a café.

“I AM.” “He is!” They say at the same time.

“…By the way, who are you?” She pauses, not so you can speak but to think, “I don’t think I hired another skeleton.” She says in a quiet whisper, one hand on her chin in thought.

Waving your hands in a dismissal you sign, “ **No, no you didn’t hire me I came here with Jupiter. I wanted to see where he worked, I hope that’s okay.** ” You ask feeling a bit like your intruding.

Now it’s her time to dismiss your worries, “It’s fine It’s fine. Jupiter, go to the bathroom ta get cleaned up, before you start to stink.” She says with a chuckle. As she heads for the door on the left. Looking in your direction, “You can sit down at any table, I’ll bring you some tea.” She pauses mid steps, “Wait can you eat food?” She asks with playful suspicion in her voice.

Shaking your head, no, you sign, “ **My name is Y/N by the way it’s nice to meet you.** ”

“Oh!” She quickly turns around while she continues to walk backwards toward the kitchen. “Nice to meet you! My name is Calendula.” She says in a cheery voice before disappearing into the supposed kitchen. You’re not sure why she still went in there when you told her you can’t eat, but maybe she just wants some tea for herself.

You sit down at a random table, suddenly realizing that your all alone with nothing to do. Resting your skull in your hands as you lean on the table, you feel mildly annoyed at the tall skellie. He ruined your chance to talk to Jupiter and now you’re going to have to wait until he gets off from work to talk to him.

Your bones rattle before slumping dejectedly. Suddenly, Calendula is beside you.

“What’s wrong punchinella?” She asks in a musical voice as she takes the seat across from you, completely ignoring just how much she scared you.

Taking a moment to calm down, “ **Nothing, I thought you were getting tea?** ”

“I was but then I started thinking about stuff, and I have to do things, and I wasn’t sure what to make anyway. Plus, Jupiter might want some and now isn’t not a time for tea…for him…he needs to start working after all. And I can’t have tea because I still need to train him.” She looks off towards the ceiling in contemplation.

Staring at her you try and comprehend all that she told you, she wasn’t talking fast, but the way she talked seems so random despite making sense? As you stare at her you notice that her familiar isn’t here, “ **Where’s your familiar? Carni was it?** ” You ask, with a tilt of your head.

She slams her hands on the table as she turns to look at you in shock. “I left Carni in the kitchen!” She yells, causing you to flinch slightly before rattling in amusement.

“OH NO THERE ARE CLOWNS IN THE KITCHEN!” Jupiter yells in dismay as he exits the bathroom.

Both you and Calendula look at Jupiter with a blank expression.

“What? No, Carni’s in the kitchen.” She states simply with confusion.

“I KNOW. CARNIS, THEY’RE PROBABLY MAKING A MESS IN THERE WITH THEIR LOW BROW JOKES AND JAPES.” Jupiter says as he shutters.

Calendula is vibrating as she tries to hold in her laughter. “Pft.” The sound of a pot falling and clanking against the floor could be heard from the kitchen. “Y-yeah, definitely making a mess.” She manages to squeeze out between pursed lips and puffed cheeks as she continues to hold back her laughter.

“ **Jupiter, she means Carni the plant that tackled you earlier not a bunch of clowns.** ”

“OH! WELL, WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY SO?”

Withheld laughter intensifies, “W-why don’t…you go to the back…and get you garden gear on.”

“VERY WELL, THEN I WILL LEAVE THAT DASTARDLY PLANT IN YOUR CARE.” He says before quickly walking through the left door behind the service desk.

She turns and looks at you while letting a couple of chuckles escape, “I’m going to get Carni, be right back.”

You were once again left in the still unexplained café of this supposed greenhouse. Stretching in order to calm your nerves a bit, you hear yelling coming from the kitchen. Staring at the rowdy kitchen, wondering if you should help her or not. She kicks open the door looking very angry; which you didn’t think she was capable of and Carni looks like they’re trying to make themselves as small as possible. She enters the door on the right behind the service desk before quickly reappearing with no Carni in sight.

She sits down across from you with a huff, “So what’s wrong?” She asks like whatever just happened, didn’t just happen. “Did something happen between you and Jupiter?” She asks with the tilt of her head.

You didn’t think that your emotions were showing so clearly on your skull or aura. In fact, you didn’t think they had time to surface with how random things have been since you’ve arrived. Regardless you nod your head.

She makes a noise of understanding, “Do you want to talk about it? Maybe get a new perspective on the situation?” She asks with a cheerful yet reassuring expression.

You feel like you could talk to her, yet you also feel like she might not understand. On the other hand, she’s Jupiter’s boss, should you even be discussing private matters to her. You look in her direction and she’s looking at the ceiling obviously thinking about other things.

Tapping on the table to get her attention you start signing, “ **Well yesterday, I was attacked by a couple of other skeleton monsters. Oh, he’s a skeleton monster by the way. But I almost died, and I think it freaked them out a bit.** ” You vaguely explain.

Nodding her head, she hums in understanding, “I have no idea what you just said.” She simply states, shocking you. “Yeah I don’t know sign language.” Your jaw literally drops causing her to laugh. “Well if it makes you feel better, I had a feeling Jupiter was a monster since he can eat food and I’m assuming you’re a mystic skeleton then.” You’re too shocked to answer her. She puckers her lips as she looks around the café area of her store.

“Ooookay. Well I’m a nature sorcerer, my specialty lies with plants…” She continues to look around, “I’m going to go get Jupiter so you guys can go ahead and talk.” She quickly gets up and leaves to get Jupiter while you remain seated in shock.

She claims to not be able to understand you, yet she seems to have understood you perfectly, maybe? You didn’t get long to ponder that thought as Jupiter was shoved out of the left door.

“B-BUT I JUST GO HERE! I CAN’T POSSIBLY GO ON A BREAK NOW.” He tries to reason with his boss, but she just smiles at him from behind the door.

“Go ahead and take your legally government mandated break!” She says cheerfully, “I’ll come get you when I have some work for you to do!” She trails off as she disappears somewhere behind the door.

He awkwardly turns around until he’s facing you, but he isn’t looking at you. “I SUPPOSE I’M ON BREAK.”

Nodding your head, you decide to go ahead and get this conversation over with. Who knows how long a random legally government mandated break will last? Patting the area adjacent to you, signaling for him to sit down. He looks around the room nervously before sighing and moving to sit beside you.

“ **Papyrus, I...know yesterday was hectic, but what’s wrong?** ” You ask cautiously. His expression or aura twists into one of confliction, sadness, anger, and contemplation. Like, he’s trying to figure out if he should lie or tell you the truth. “ **You’ve been rather distance, Papyrus. And awfully nervous and fidgety lately. I may not have known you long, but I know this is not how you are.** ” You explain, hoping to encourage the truth out of him.

“YOU ARE RIGHT.” He says with a loud sigh, “I SUPPOSE I SHOULD EXTEND MY HONESTY POLICE TO YOU AS WELL.” He closes his eye sockets as he steads himself. “I’M SORRY, FOR WHAT I PUT YOU THOUGH YESTERDAY.” He says, voice wavering.

“ **Sorry for saving me?** ” You ask highly confused, a little bit of sadness seeping into your soul.

He looks at you in shock before quickly waving his arms in dismissal. “NO! NO, OF COURSE NOT! I’M SORRY FOR ALMOST KILLING YOU!” He says in a panic state.

.

.

.

“ **What?** ” You ask with obvious confusion. You remember two skeletons attacking you and you’re pretty sure you would’ve noticed if Jupiter was attacking you.

Jupiter immediately looks nervous and guilty. “Y-YOUR SKULL.”

You touch your skull, silently asking ‘my skull?’

“WHEN YOU WERE RUNNING AWAY FROM BLACK AND MUTT, YOU ACCIDENTALLY STEPPED ON ONE OF MY TRAPS. IT CAUSED THE TRUNK OF A TREE TO COME DOWN AND, IT WAS THE ATTACK THAT DECAPITATED YOUR SKULL.” He explains while avoiding your gaze, but still keeps your hands in his view.

Oh, so it was a trap that knocked your skull off. Realizing something you sign, “ **This morning. Were you destroying your traps?** ”

He visually flinches before nodding his head. “YES, I DIDN’T WANT YOU TO GET HURT BECAUSE MY TRAPS.”

You wish you could comfort or hold his hand, but you can’t since you need them to sign to him. Once again them not having telepathy is very inconvenient. “ **Jupiter, It’s okay. I will admit that some of your puzzles are very dangerous and deadly.** ” He winces at the statement; he doesn’t seem surprised just regretful that it hurt someone he cares about.

“ **But I can solve them. I solved the puzzles you showed me a couple of days ago. When I was running away from them, I purposely ran towards the traps and puzzles in an attempt to get them caught in it. Out of the tons of traps I’ve avoided I only got caught by one.** ” You try to reassure.

But he wasn’t. “It Only Takes One.” He says somberly.

 

It’s quite between the two of you.

 

“ **Okay. I forgive you for your trap and I don’t hold it against you. I still want to be your friend and you will always be the Great Papyrus, to me.** ”

He starts to tear up as he glances from your hand to your face. “Really?” He asks in a quiet voice.

With a reassuring aura, “ **Yes, really. And I still want you to make puzzles.”** You state firmly. **“If it makes you feel better than we can work together to make your puzzles safer, or maybe have warning signs indicating where dangerous puzzles are.** ”

He still looks a little nervous at the thought but also excited. “ARE YOU SURE IT’S OKAY? I MEAN IT SEEMS LIKE A WONDERFUL IDEA BUT,”

“ **Yes, I’m sure. You love doing puzzles and I enjoyed making them and solving them with you. Continue making puzzles you’re happy and comfortable with. And if you’re worried about it being too dangerous then you can always run it by me. Okay?** ”

Tears flow down his cheek bones as he quickly scopes you up, pulling you into his lap. Nuzzling the top of your head he mumbles mixtures of thanks and apologizes. Rubbing his back reassuringly as you nuzzle him. Trying your best to comfort him without words. After a while Jupiter calms down and you wiped his tears away, glad that one problem was solved today.

“ **You should go get your boss you’ve been on break for quite a while.** ” You tease.

Seeming to realize where he is, he quickly jumps from his chair with you in his arms. “YOU’RE RIGHT THERE IS MUCH WORK TO BE DONE.”

“Oh, are you guys done talking?” She asks peeking out from around the kitchen door, cookie in mouth.

“YES, WE ARE!” He gently put you back down in a chair. “THANK YOU FOR GIVING US A MOMENT TO TALK.” He says with sincerity in his voice.

“No problem!” She says with a bright smile. “So ya ready to get down to work!”

Jupiter stands straight as he salutes his boss, “YES MA’AM!”

“Great! Also, I’m a mystic and I’d love it if you could work the mystic side of the shop as well!” She explained excitedly, conveniently leaving out the part of her falling under the mage sub-species. Not that you blame her, but isn’t she supposed to be on locked down?

Watching Jupiter’s reaction, his eyes(?) protrude out of his sockets! Thoroughly freaking you out causing you fall out of your chair.

“Y/N! ARE YOU OKAY?”

Scrambling to your feet before he can reach you. Making large gesture that probably don’t make sense in your shocked state. You’ve been accepting of a lot of their weird behavior. BUT EYEBALLS!!!

 

They can blush, eat, breath, but eyeballs!

 

EYEBALLS!!

 

How do they even have eyeballs!? Where do they keep them? Does the Sanses have eyeballs too? You silently stare at Jupiter awhile your aura release waves of suspicion, making Jupiter nervous as he shifts from foot to foot.

Calendula looks from Jupiter to you and then back to Jupiter with a nonchalant expression. “I think she’s freaking out because ya got eyeballs.” You gesture largely to her confirming her guess.

“OH UM…”

Calendula looks between you two again, “I think the answer is magic. Hey, maybe you can do it too?”

You stare at her in horror at the notion.

Laughing, “Now I want to put googly eyes on you.”

 

***

 

The sun is setting as you and Jupiter make your way back home. Neither of you are talking but the air between you two isn’t awkward. It’s a peaceful and comfortable silence now. Lost in thought you think back about your time at Sprout’s, the name of Calendula’s greenhouse. The front is a little cafe because she just likes feeding people on occasion. Or more like she likes to cook and brew tea and finds it rude to eat in front of others without offering them some.

The two doors behind the service desk leads to the greenhouses; the one on the left connects to the non-magical plants while the one on the right connects to magical or mystic plants. Now that Jupiter knows that Calendula is a mystic he’s allowed to work in all parts of the greenhouse. She sells plants, fruits and veggies, seeds, teas, nectar, wine, grape juice, and occasionally essential oils. Jupiter seems really excited about learning about magical plants and growing a magical garden. Looks like he’s picked up a new hobby.

Meanwhile you picked up new quest.

As it turns out under her treehouse is a small mushroom garden growing both magical and non-magical mushrooms. Your surprised you didn’t notice but apparently no one ever notices the first time around. But she wants you to find a list of mushrooms. Hopefully you’ll be able to find them near the mountain if not you’ll have to travel again. Maybe you can get Mars to join you! He needs an introduction to being a merchant, even if he isn’t going to be a traveling merchant.   

Arriving at the house Mars is waiting outside for you guys. Waving you run up to him and give him a hug. Jupiter follow suit and wraps you both in a bone crushing hug before setting you both down and heading to the kitchen. Mars gives you a fond smile as you follow after Jupiter. He seems happy that everything worked out and that you’re okay.

“glad everything worked out.”

“ **Me too.** ”

Feeling tired, even though you barely walked, and knowing you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow, you decide to turn in early. Bidding Mars and Jupiter good night you head upstairs to your room. Upon opening the door things seem…off. Your bed looks somewhat messy, for a bed that shouldn’t have been used yet. There’s a subtle scent and static of familiar magic in the air. Feels like someone was in your room while you were gone…

….

…

..

.

You’ll worry about that tomorrow, for now it’s time for bed.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Notes: 

These skeletons really like your room. When will the skeletons finish their house? Who knows?

Thanks for reading and as always please comment down below!

Also, for those of you that guest what your soul trait is (or the rest of you that’s just curious) you can find out on my [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/pumpkinflash)! Or you can wait until the skeles find out (its not really a spoiler just an “Oooooh” moment once you figure it out lol).

Since Skeleton x Skeleton is at chapter 11 I was wondering if you guys would be interested in a Q&A? So, let me know in the poll what you guys think. 

[The Poll!](https://linkto.run/p/GI27SJJ3)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading the first chapter, if you have any comments, suggestions, or question just comment down below. Also if you have an nickname ideas for Dusttale Papyrus let me know, I'm stuck between Ember and Sparky.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Cold Hearted Mindset](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16730592) by [WhiskerFrisker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiskerFrisker/pseuds/WhiskerFrisker)




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